Alex Rodriguez passes Willie Mays with 661st career home run

— -- NEW YORK -- For Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays is in the rearview mirror. Next stop, Babe Ruth.

Rodriguez, the New York Yankees' designated hitter, moved ahead of Mays into sole possession of fourth place on baseball's all-time home runs list with a solo blast -- the 661st of his career -- in the third inning of Thursday's game at Yankee Stadium.

That leaves just Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762) ahead of Rodriguez on the list.

No. 661 came on a 1-1 pitch from the  Baltimore Orioles'  Chris Tillman, a hanging changeup, and Rodriguez belted it into the runway between Monument Park and the visitors bullpen past left-center field.

The shot broke a 2-all tie between the Yankees and Orioles, but more significantly, it broke a tie between Rodriguez and Mays, who had been deadlocked at 660 since Rodriguez hit a dramatic pinch-hit home run Friday night at Fenway Park to provide the margin of victory in the Yankees' 3-2 win over the  Boston Red Sox.

Thursday's homer was Rodriguez's seventh of the season and prompted a curtain call from the Yankee Stadium crowd, which was not sure how to receive him on Opening Day, his first game back after serving a 162-game suspension for performance-enhancing drug violations arising out of baseball's Biogenesis investigation.

Rodriguez got a mixture of cheers and boos that day, but he has gradually won over the home fans through a combination of his hitting -- his seven home runs and 18 RBIs are second only to Mark Teixeira on the team -- his humble demeanor in the clubhouse and the Yankees' public refusal to pay him a bonus for reaching the 660th home run milestone, the first of five home run milestones for which he reportedly is due $6 million apiece.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, confirming what sources have said for quite some time, said Saturday that the Yankees will not trigger the marketing deal because it is their "right, not obligation" to do so.

Rodriguez has stayed largely mum on the issue. He is expected to let the MLB Players Association fight on his behalf to receive the money. The $30 million marketing contract was signed in 2007, when the Yankees re-signed Rodriguez to a 10-year, $275 million contract after he opted out of his 10-year, $252 million deal during that year's World Series.