THERE IT GOES: Curtis Granderson watches the flight of his two-run homer in the third inning that helped spark the Yankees to a 5-3 triumph over the Angels yesterday at the Stadium. (Neil Miller (2))
In some of his former homes, if Freddy Garcia found himself down two runs in the first inning like he was yesterday, he knew he was in trouble.
Not anymore.
That two-run deficit was erased in the bottom of the inning with a Robinson Cano homer, and Curtis Granderson gave the Yankees the lead for good with another two-run shot in the third in a 5-3 win over the Angels in The Bronx.
Garcia doesn’t mind the setup.
“People don’t come to the ballpark to see base hits,” Garcia said after he labored through five innings then was helped by four innings of scoreless relief. “They want to see the long ball.”
If that’s true, then Yankee Stadium is the place to be. After the two homers yesterday, the Bombers have hit 37 in their last 20 games as their power continues to provide them with victories — something that isn’t lost on Garcia.
“Every time we hit home runs, we win,” said the right-hander, who improved to 4-2. “When we don’t hit home runs, we don’t win.”
Garcia wasn’t entirely accurate, but he wasn’t far off, either. The Yankees are 37-8 when they hit multiple home runs and 2-14 when they don’t hit any.
Asked if he ever had been on a team that featured as much power, Garcia scoffed.
“Hell, no,” Garcia said. “I played in Seattle. In Chicago, we got some big hitters [with the White Sox], but not like here. You see the numbers after the season and everybody has 20, 25, 40 home runs. They’re great hitters.”
Especially Cano and Granderson, who both take advantage of the cozy dimensions in The Bronx.
Yesterday, Cano’s first-inning homer went to the opposite field. He drove Jerome Williams’ changeup deep to left-center, where it bounced off the top of the wall for his 21st home run of the year.
“You want to get those runs back right away,” Cano said of the two runs Garcia surrendered in the top of the inning.
Garcia bounced back to pitch four more quality innings, allowing the Yankees to grab the lead with Granderson’s long home run in the third. It was the center fielder’s 24th and showed again why manager Joe Girardi is willing to live with his high strikeout total.
“You need different guys to carry [you],” Girardi said. “[Teixeira] did it before. We need to spread it around.”
Garcia (4-2) gave a run back in the fourth, but was able to strand Mike Trout at third after the rookie picked up his third hit of the day and then stole two bases.
After Garcia’s departure, the Yankees got two shutout innings from Cody Eppley then scoreless frames from David Robertson and Rafael Soriano.
“They’ve done a tremendous job,” Girardi said of the bullpen. “It’s been different pieces. I love the job they’re doing.”
Eppley continues to surprise, as the manager was able to get a second inning out of him against the middle of the Angels’ lineup. That allowed Girardi to avoid using as many as three pitchers to get through the seventh.
Alex Rodriguez’s leadoff double in the sixth led to the Yankees’ final run, which gave the pen some room to work with, and also stopped the booing from the Stadium crowd — at least temporarily.
It all added up to the Yankees’ sixth win in their last seven games.
”I think this team is playing almost as well as it can,” Girardi said. “We’re getting contributions from a lot of different guys at different times.”
And that makes life for Garcia even better.
dan.martin@nypost.com