Granderson, Yankees snap slump in Detroit
DETROIT -- Curtis Granderson dropped down in the New York Yankees' batting order, then lowered the boom on the streaking Detroit Tigers.
Granderson broke out of a slump with three hits, including a three-run homer, and knocked in four runs as the Yankees pounded the Tigers 12-8 Wednesday at Comerica Park. Granderson, who played for the Tigers from 2004-09, also scored twice as Detroit's streaks of six consecutive victories and 10 straight home wins were snapped.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi felt a lineup change was needed after his club dropped 12 of its previous 18 games. Granderson was moved to the sixth spot after going hitless the first two games of the series and going 2-for-20 as the leadoff man for five games. His third-inning homer was his 30th this season and 71st since the beginning of last season, tops in the majors.
"It's just very coincidental," said Granderson, who usually bats first or second. "I've been with this team for three seasons, and I think I've batted every spot but cleanup. It really doesn't matter where I hit."
Girardi deflected credit for the offensive outburst, which tied the Yankees' second-highest scoring output this season. The top six spots in the order contributed 14 hits.
"You can talk about moving hitters all the time," he said. "We try to stay pretty consistent around here, so guys know where they're at. I remember the other day when we led off Granderson, he had two RBI and everyone seemed to like that. Let's just hope this one scores a lot of runs for a while."
The Yankees, who jumped to a 7-0 lead, racked up 18 hits against five Tigers pitchers. Robinson Cano had three hits, two runs and an RBI.
Yankees ace CC Sabathia (12-3) struck out seven and gave up five runs, three earned. Girardi removed him with two outs in the seventh, even though Sabathia had thrown only 94 pitches, and that decision almost proved costly. Reliever David Robertson promptly gave up four consecutive singles as the Tigers sliced New York's lead to 8-7.
The rally was aided by an error by third baseman Casey McGehee, the Yankees' second of the game. New York had gone 13 consecutive games without an error.
"I had Robby ready," Girardi said. "With two outs, I just felt it was time to go to Robby. Delmon (Young) obviously hits lefties a little better than righties. Robby had a couple of days off, and I just thought it was time to go to Robby."
Sabathia was admittedly surprised by the quick hook.
"You're always upset when you're not able to finish your inning, but that's why Joe is the manager and I go out and throw the ball," he said. "It worked out."
The momentum shifted back in the top of the eighth when the Yankees scored twice off left-hander Phil Coke, as designated hitter Eric Chavez and Mark Teixeira each drove in his second run of the game. The Yankees tacked on two more runs in the ninth.
"We lost the game, so you don't find much silver lining, but I told the guys afterwards, 'Nice little run,'" Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "It was a great effort tonight, and that's all you can ask for as a manager. We had them on their feet, we had the potential for a great comeback. But when you make mistakes against Yankee hitters, you're going to pay. They can do some damage. Granderson made us pay that (third) inning. But even after that, we got back to where we were feeling pretty good. We just didn't stop the bleeding."
Jeff Baker, making his Tigers debut, and Brennan Boesch drove in two runs apiece in the third game of the four-game series. However, the Tigers weren't able to overcome a poor start by Anibal Sanchez (1-2), who was acquired from Miami last month to solidify the fifth spot in the rotation. He lasted just three-plus innings, giving up seven runs and seven hits.
"I'm not frustrated," Sanchez said. "Like I say, I think I need to keep working. I know what the team can do. I need to throw the ball, get some outs, get quick innings, because at some point, we're going to score some runs. If the pitcher can hold it to like three, four runs, I know the team can make more than that, so we need to keep the control of the game."
NOTES: Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera was held hitless. He had homered the previous three games. ... Detroit hasn't won more than 10 consecutive home games since 1949, when it won 11 straight at Briggs Stadium, later renamed Tiger Stadium, from Aug. 12-29. ... Chavez has seven hits in the series. ... Derek Jeter scored twice, giving him 1,832 runs for his career. He moved past Frank Robinson (1,830 runs) into 14th place on the all-time list.
