Yankees 12, Tigers 8
DETROIT -- Curtis Granderson broke out of a hitting slump and cooled off his former team.
Granderson had three hits, including a three-run homer, and knocked in four runs as the New York Yankees pounded the Detroit Tigers 12-8 at Comerica Park Wednesday.
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.
The Yankees, who jumped to a 7-0 lead, had lost 12 of their previous 18 games. Robinson Cano had three hits, two runs scored and an RBI as the Yankees racked up 18 hits against five Tigers pitchers.
Jeff Baker, making his Tigers debut, and Brennan Boesch drove in two runs apiece in the third game of the four-game series.
Yankees ace CC Sabathia (12-3) struck out seven and gave up five runs, three earned. Manager Joe Girardi removed him with two out in the seventh, even though Sabathia had thrown only 94 pitches. Reliever David Robertson then gave up four consecutive singles as the Tigers sliced New York's lead to one, 8-7.
That rally was aided by an error by third baseman Casey McGehee, the Yankees' second of the game. They had gone 13 straight games without an error.
The momentum shifted back to the Yankees in the top of the eighth when they scored twice off left-hander Phil Coke, as designated hitter Eric Chavez and Mark Teixeira each drove in their second run of the game.
Granderson was dropped to sixth in the order after going hitless the first two games of the series and getting four hits in his last 25 at-bats. He responded by ripping an RBI single to right in his first at-bat, giving New York a 2-0 lead. That was just the beginning of Granderson's big night.
"We've had some guys swinging the bat pretty well, so we'll change it up a little bit," Girardi said about the lineup switch prior to the game.
Chavez, batting .455 in his previous seven games, blooped a two-out, run-scoring single off Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez prior to Granderson's breakout hit. Sanchez got into trouble by walking Nick Swisher and plunking Teixeira with a pitch above his right elbow.
Sabathia retaliated in the bottom of the inning by hitting Tigers cleanup hitter Prince Fielder with a pitch after Miguel Cabrera drew a two-out walk. But the Tigers failed to capitalize as Delmon Young flied out to center.
Girardi said that it's been tough to pitch around Cabrera with the hitters in front of him getting on base and Fielder lurking in the on-deck circle. Cabrera had a career .370 average against the Yankees entering the game.
"You try to say you don't want this guy to beat you and you try to get him in positions where there's no one on in front of him but we haven't been as fortunate," Girardi said. "He's as good a hitter as there is in the league right now."
When Sanchez hit Robinson Cano on his backside with a third-inning pitch, home plate umpire Tim Welke issued a warning to both benches. After Chavez walked with two out, Granderson jumped on an 0-1 Sanchez offering for his 30th homer of the season to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead.
Sanchez exited after he gave up three straight hits in the fourth, including Swisher's RBI single. Teixeira's sacrifice fly off reliever Duane Below later in the inning made it 7-0.
The Tigers finally answered during the bottom of the fourth with the aid of a newcomer. Left fielder Jeff Baker, who received his first start since Detroit acquired him from the Chicago Cubs Sunday, doubled with two out and scored on Brennan Boesch's RBI single. The right-handed Baker is expected to start regularly against left-handed pitching.
"People refer to it as a little piece," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "I look at it as a huge piece. Hopefully, that changes our lineup."
NOTES: Granderson has a major-league high 71 home runs since the start of last season. ... The Yankees have lost their last eight one-run games, their longest skid in such games since they lost nine straight one-run decisions in 1944. The Tigers won the second game of the series Tuesday, 6-5. ... Cabrera, who led the AL in 2010 with 126 RBI, is on pace to drive in 140 runs. ... 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.
