Arlington, Texas ? The records keeping coming for Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez hit a pair of three-run homers, breaking his own major league mark for shortstops with 53 home runs in a season as the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 12-7 Monday night.

Lawrence High graduate Lee Stevens of the Cleveland Indians, right, is congratulated by Ellis Burks, left, and Karim Garcia after his three-run home run off Toronto pitcher Pete Walker in the fourth inning at Cleveland's Jacobs Field. The Indians lost, 11-9.

While the Rangers head toward their third straight last-place finish, Rodriguez maintains his focus, beating his one-time teammates as the Mariners attempt to stay in contention.

“We have a responsibility to the rest of the American League West to continue to play hard,” said Rodriguez.

“I have a lot of great friends over there, so it’s tough to go against them, but at the same time it feels good to play well against them. We haven’t played a lot of important games, but when you’re playing against playoff contenders, it brings your game up a notch.”

The Rangers homered in their 27th straight game, extending their big league mark.

Ichiro Suzuki and Desi Relaford led off the game with homers for the Mariners. But the Rangers rallied behind A-Rod and stopped Seattle’s three-game winning streak, further damaging its wild-card chances.

Rodriguez hit 52 homers last year, setting the record for shortstops and the Rangers’ home run mark.

Rodriguez matched those records in the sixth with a tiebreaking shot off Jeff Nelson.

“It’s really humbling to be at the top of the list on a team that has such a history of great offense,” said Rodriguez.

In the eighth, Rodriguez added another three-run shot and Rafael Palmeiro followed with his 40th off rookie Aaron Taylor. It was Palmeiro’s 487th career home run. Rodriguez has 10 multihomer games, one short of the major record held by Hank Greenberg (1938) and Sammy Sosa (1998).

Rodriguez had his fourth career six-RBI game as Texas beat Seattle for the first time in seven meetings at The Ballpark in Arlington this season.

As the records tumble before Rodriguez, Rangers manager Jerry Narron can only shake his head in wonder.

“I’d say he’s the best player in baseball,” Narron said. “I never thought I’d see a shortstop hit 50 homers. I don’t know if we truly realize what we’re seeing. When it’s all over, if he’s not the best player of all time, he’ll be close to it.”

Dennys Reyes (4-2) pitched three innings of one-hit shutout relief. John Halama (5-5) took the loss.

John Olerud’s two-run homer off Danny Kolb in the eighth pulled Seattle within 8-7 before Texas pulled away.

The Mariners jumped on Aaron Myette in the first on Suzuki’s seventh homer and Relaford’s sixth. Seattle increased its advantage to 4-0 in the second on sacrifice flies by Dan Wilson and Mike Cameron.

Texas made it 4-3 in the second on Carl Everett’s RBI double and rookie Hank Blalock’s two-run single. But the Mariners extended their lead to 5-3 in the third on Olerud’s run-scoring double.

Red Sox 6, Devil Rays 3

St. Petersburg, Fla. Derek Lowe became the American League’s second 19-game winner despite being ejected.

Lowe (19-7) was leading 4-3 when he was ejected by plate umpire Jerry Crawford after hitting Felix Escalona with his first pitch in the seventh. Lowe also hit Escalona in the fifth inning, but no warning was issued then.

Lowe gave up three runs and five hits in six-plus innings. Ugueth Urbina pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save, striking out two.

Blue Jays 11, Indians 9

Cleveland Josh Phelps, Vernon Wells and Eric Hinske each homered and drove in three runs.

Jim Thome hit his 44th home run to help the Indians overcome a 6-0 deficit. Lawrence High grad Lee Stevens’ three-run homer off Toronto starter Pete Walker capped the Indians’ four-run fourth. Thome went 3-for-3, opening the sixth with a 412-foot shot.

Athletics 2, Angels 1

Anaheim, Calif. Jermaine Dye and Terrence Long homered as Tim Hudson and Oakland beat Anaheim to win for the 23rd time in 24 games.

Garret Anderson homered for the Angels, who had their 10-game winning streak snapped one shy of the club record set in 1964.

Hudson (13-9) retired the first 10 Angels en route to winning his sixth consecutive decision. He allowed one run on six hits in 7 1/3 innings.

Billy Koch got three straight outs for his 39th save in 45 chances. Kevin Appier (14-10) gave up two runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings, losing for the first time in seven starts.

Twins 5, Tigers 2

Minneapolis Dustan Mohr hit an RBI double and scored twice as the Minnesota Twins ended their 20-inning scoreless streak. Jacque Jones drove in two runs as the Twins finished with nine hits, nearly matching their 10-hit output over the previous two games.