NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez hit his 584th home run and first this season, passing Mark McGwire for sole possession for eighth place on the career list.

Rodriguez homered off Doug Mathis in the fourth inning Saturday, a solo drive to right-center that gave the Yankees a 7-0 lead over Texas.

A-Rod had gone homerless in his first 41 at-bats, his longest homerless streak at the start of a season since beginning 1995 without one in his first 48 at-bats for Seattle.