Beleaguered Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez stepped up to the plate to the sound of boos. Minutes later, the jeers were replaced by emphatic cheering as he hit his first home run of the season, a single off Detroit Tigers right-handed pitcher Justin Verlander.

In Sunday's game against Detroit at home, A-Rod was inserted into the batting order in the second inning. Verlander fired a 92-mph fastball, but Rodriguez was able to crush the ball deep into left field. It was his first since September 2012, breaking a streak against right-handers also stretching back to 2012.

"You want to turn boos into cheers, you want to make them proud," Rodriguez told ESPN.com.

Although Rodriguez was slapped with a 211-game ban effective Thursday, the Major League Baseball Players Association filed an appeal on his behalf on Wednesday, which made him eligible to play while the appeals process is ongoing. Twelve other players accepted 50-game suspensions. But the process might be a long, protracted one, which means that A-Rod could overtake Willie Mays in the all-time home run list. Mays has 660, while Rodriguez is 12 shy of tying the legendary slugger. Another RBI in Sunday's game also allowed Rodriguez, who is now fifth in the all-time list, to surpass Hall of Famer Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Rodriguez, though, downplayed his personal record, even if he does stand to earn a $6 million bonus if he passes Mays.

"It means I'm getting old ... It's obviously so humbling. It makes you think you've been around a long time," said Rodriguez.

All in all, A-Rod had four at-bats in Sunday's game. He also had a defensive gem in the eighth inning when he picked up a groundball headed to the third base and firing it to his second baseman. His efforts helped the Yankees in a 5-4 win. The Yankees are 11 games behind Boston in the American League East, so every run they get will prove to be useful in the long run.