Bronx, NY (My Sportsbook) - Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with a homer and four runs batted in to help Ian Kennedy win his major-league debut, as the New York Yankees held on for a 9-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Rodriguez clubbed a two-run homer in the first inning and added a two-run double in the fourth for New York, which bounced back from a 9-1 loss in Friday's series opener to win for the fourth time in five games.

The Yankees also moved two games in front of Seattle for the AL wild card lead. The Mariners, who visit Yankee Stadium for a three-game series starting Monday, lost to Toronto on Saturday and have dropped eight in a row.

Kennedy, a first-round draft pick in 2006, was making the start in place of the struggling Mike Mussina. Kennedy, who started the season at Single-A Tampa and also made stops at Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, allowed three runs -- one earned -- on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

"I thought he was great," Yankee manager Joe Torre said about his 22-year-old hurler. "Looked like he located everything real well, changed speeds real well. He has a great deal of poise. I was very impressed."

B.J. Upton homered and Josh Wilson drove in two runs for the Devil Rays, who had a four-game winning streak stopped and lost for just the second time in their last nine games.

Edwin Jackson (4-13) took the loss, allowing seven runs -- six earned on five hits and five walks in just 3 1/3 innings.

The game featured a pair of confiscated bats, as the Yankees asked the umpires to take the bat of Tampa's Akinori Iwamura and the Devil Rays followed by asking for Rodriguez's bat.

"They challenged Aki's bat because it has an abrupt end to it," said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. "It was approved in spring training."

Rodriguez belted his 45th homer of the season with two outs in the first, just after Bobby Abreu had drawn a walk, to give New York a 2-0 lead.

Kennedy then ran into some trouble in the second. After Delmon Young singled with one out, Rodriguez dropped a foul pop off the bat of Brendan Harris, who then singled. Wilson doubled home both runners with two outs, making the runs unearned.

Josh Paul drew a walk and the Yankees asked for Iwamura's bat on a 2-2 count. The Tampa rookie third baseman then struck out.

Kennedy worked around a single and a walk in the third, getting Young to hit a double-play grounder, and the Yankees scored two in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good.

Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter started the inning with singles and Abreu followed with a grounder to first. Carlos Pena threw to second for the force out, but Wilson's relay to first was wild, allowing Cabrera to score the go- ahead run. It was one of three errors for the Tampa Bay shortstop.

Maddon then asked umpires for Rodriguez's bat, but with a new one the Yankee slugger singled. Hideki Matsui drew a walk and Jason Giambi's force out allowed Abreu to score for a 4-2 lead.

"There's nothing wrong with Alex Rodriguez," Maddon said about why he asked for the bat. "It was tit for tat."

The Yankees tacked on three more in the fourth after a pair of walks and an error by Wilson loaded the bases. Abreu drew another free pass to force in one run and Rodriguez followed with a ground-rule double off Joe Switzer to make it 7-2.

Upton connected for his 22nd homer of the season in the sixth, but Kennedy set down the Devil Rays in order in the seventh and his teammates responded with two more runs on RBI singles by Jose Molina and Cabrera.

Tampa Bay made it interesting in the eighth against Luis Vizcaino, as Carl Crawford doubled in a run and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pena. Upton then doubled, went to third on a single by Young and scored on a sacrifice fly by Harris.

Mariano Rivera was summoned from the bullpen and induced a grounder from Greg Norton to end the inning before fanning the side in order in the ninth to nail down his 23rd save.

As for the bats, umpire Dana DeMuth issued a statement after the game.

"Manager Joe Torre contends that no manufacturer makes a bat sawed at the end like that. He wanted to determine whether it was a legal bat or illegal bat. We respected his request.

"Joe Maddon contends that there something inside the bat [of Rodriguez] that alters the distance of the ball. He is also entitled to a challenge by rule, so we also honored his request.

"The bats are now on their way to Major League Baseball, where they will be examined."

Game Notes

Kennedy was 12-3 with a 1.91 earned run average in his minor league starts this season. He became the eighth different rookie to start a game for the Yankees in 2007...The Devil Rays activated pitcher Jay Witasick off the 15-day disabled list. He had been sidelined with a strained right elbow.