Though the prospects of the Yankees winning the division become more remote with each passing day, their 85th win was one more than they amassed all of last season and drew them closer to securing home-field advantage in the AL Wild Card Game presented by Budweiser on Oct. 6.
Right now, the Yanks would host the Astros, whom they lead by 4 1/2 games.
"I think these games are all going to be great preparation for October," said Rodriguez, who was in a 2-for-26 funk with no homers nor RBIs when he smacked the game-winning hit. "We've been playing a lot of tough games, a lot of tight games.