Curtis Granderson destroyed the Orioles during the season. But in the ALDS, Baltimore has shut him down.
During the regular season, Granderson played 17 games against manager Buck Showalter’s crew and demolished the Orioles, smashing seven homers and driving in 17 runs. So far in this ALDS, however, Granderson probably has been the worst player on either team.
Granderson went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in the Yankees’ 2-1, 13-inning loss in Game 4 of the ALDS last night. In four games this series, the Yankees center fielder is a miserable 1-for-16 with nine strikeouts. His lone hit in the series is a fourth-inning single in Game 2.
Granderson, who had 43 homers — seven against the Orioles — and 65 extra-base hits this season, has just one single this series.
“I feel OK [at the plate],” Granderson said.
Manager Joe Girardi was asked whether he might make lineup changes for today’s do-or-die Game 5, with Alex Rodriguez and Granderson the two players mentioned specifically in the question.
“We play a little bit earlier, so I’ll have to study a little bit sooner,” Girardi said. “But I’ll make decisions [today].”
Granderson said he’s “chasing a couple balls out of the zone,” and in his first two turns at the plate last night against left-hander Joe Saunders, Granderson went down chasing sliders. In the seventh inning, against lefty Troy Patton, Granderson flew out to left, and in the ninth — now facing submarining righty Darren O’Day — he flied to center. Finally in the 12th, Granderson chased a slider from right-hander Pedro Strop for strike three.
Granderson batted a career-low .232 this season and struck out a career-worst 195 times. These were some reasons why Granderson has batted seventh or eighth in every game this series (seventh against righty starters Jason Hammel and Miguel Gonzalez, eighth against lefty starters Wei-Yin Chen and Saunders). Hammel will start today.
Granderson actually closed the regular season superbly, racking up three straight multi-hit games and smacking three homers in his final three contests. But the strong finish hasn’t carried over.
“The season rides on [today],” Granderson said.
Thus far, Granderson’s offensive play has been a debacle.