Alex Rodriguez belted two home runs and the visiting New York Yankees snapped a six-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.

Rodriguez, who had one homer in his previous 21 games, hit solo shots in the fourth and sixth innings off Rays starter James Shields to give him eight for the season.

Brett Gardner had three hits, scored twice and knocked in a run, and Chris Dickerson, called up from the minors Tuesday, knocked in a run in the seventh with a bloop single for New York.

Yankees starter Ivan Nova (4-3) went 5 1/3 innings, and allowed four hits and one run. Reliever David Robertson got out of a one-out jam in the sixth when he struck out B.J. Upton and Casey Kotchman with the bases loaded.

Shields (4-2) gave up eight hits and four runs - three earned - in seven innings to lose for the first time in five decisions.

Elliot Johnson gave the Rays a 1-0 lead with a solo homer in the third, his second in his last two starts. Johnny Damon added three hits for Tampa Bay.