Alex Rodriguez doesn’t need long balls to drive in runs. Rodriguez stretched his homerless streak to 15 games Tuesday night but did produce a two-run, go-ahead single in the fifth inning to give the Yankees a 3-1 win over the visiting Royals.

In a battle of the American League’s top two offenses, runs came at a premium. New York’s Freddy Garcia (2-2) allowed only one run – a solo shot off the bat of ex-Yankee Melky Cabrera – and six hits while striking out three in six innings.

He was given an early 1-0 lead on Derek Jeter’s RBI single off Kyle Davies in the third. Davies (1-5) was charged with all three runs on seven hits in five-plus innings. Both bullpens held the rest of the way, with Mariano Rivera earning his league-leading 13th save for New York.

Unlike Rodriguez, who finished 1-for-4, Jeter is getting back into a groove. The Yankees’ shortstop scored a run, stole a base and went 2-for-4 for his third straight multi-hit game.

Kansas City, meanwhile, went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and dropped to a major league-worst 3-9 on the road.