A-Rod collects 1,997th RBI, breaks tie with Barry Bonds for 2nd all-time

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez moved into second place on baseball's all-time RBI list Friday night, one ahead of Barry Bonds and 300 behind Hank Aaron.

Rodriguez drove in the New York Yankees' fifth run of the game in an 8-7 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium with a single to right, driving in Brett Gardner, who had tripled into the left-center gap.

It was A-Rod's 1,997th RBI, breaking a tie with Bonds he established May 28 with a sacrifice fly in a 5-4 loss to the Athletics in Oakland.

Aaron is baseball's RBI leader with 2,297.

"It just means I'm getting older, every day," he said. "I'm happy. I'm in a good place. It doesn't escape me that all these milestones are coming at home in front of our fans. The fans for me have been a huge part of this. They've welcomed me from day one in Tampa and New York, and made me feel very comfortable.''

Added Yankees manager Joe Girardi: "It's amazing, just because of the names, the people that he's passing. These are all incredible players, and like I said, there's a lot of years that he's been extremely productive and he's being productive again."

Rodriguez, who will turn 40 next month, has 28 RBI this season for the Yankees, trailing only Mark Teixeira (43) and Brian McCann (33).