Rodriguez hits two more homers in loss

Two more home runs by Alex Rodriguez couldn’t stop the struggling New York Yankees from stumbling again.

Rodriguez tied the major league record for home runs in April, hitting his 13th and 14th of the season in a 10-8 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Monday night.

Rocco Baldelli and B.J. Upton offset the Yankees star by combining to drive in seven runs for Tampa Bay.

“This obviously is a tough time for us, but it’s a long season. We’ve got to keep working ourselves out of it,” Rodriguez said after the Yankees’ fourth consecutive loss on a five-game trip that ends tonight.

“We need a win in the worst way. Again, I think hard work and grinding through it and supporting your teammates are the most important things.”

Said Devil Rays Manager Joe Maddon: “Against this team with their lineup, you’ve really got to hunker down inning by inning because they’re going to keep coming at you. They’re never out of the game, and it’s never comfortable.”

The Yankees, swept during a weekend series in Boston, got homers in the second and ninth innings from Rodriguez, whose average rose to .400 after going four for five with three runs batted in and four runs scored.

The second-inning solo shot off Casey Fossum (2-1) was the 477th of Rodriguez’s career and extended his hitting streak to 18 games to start this season and 23 in a row dating to last September. The two-run shot off Al Reyes in the ninth gave him 34 RBIs, tied the mark for homers in April set by Albert Pujols in 2006 and broke the AL mark of 13 held by Ken Griffey Jr.

“What he’s doing is amazing. I hope he keeps it up,” New York’s Johnny Damon said.