IN BRIEF (Page 23)

Baseball

A-Rod hits first homer of season

Alex Rodriguez homered for the first time since he returned last week from offseason hip surgery and being suspended 211 games for performance-enhancing drug use. Starting at third base and batting fourth a day after being held out of the lineup, A-Rod connected on Justin Verlander's second pitch of the second inning on Sunday for his 648th career homer. It was the New York Yankees third baseman's 16th at-bat this season and first long ball since Sept 14.