Curtis Granderson has faced James Shields more than he has any pitcher during his major league career. Going into Saturday, he had 56 at-bats against the Rays right-hander, and he had failed in 50 of them.
“I know [my history’s] not very good,” Granderson said.
Whether the Yankees center fielder knew the specifics of his struggles against Shields is unknown. Yesterday, though, Granderson delivered the game’s biggest hit off his nemesis.
In the second inning of a scoreless game in The Bronx, Granderson came to the plate against Shields, who promptly got ahead in the count with a first-pitch strike. Granderson proceeded to swat the next pitch — a change-up — into the right field stands for a two-run homer, lifting the Yankees to an early lead they would never relinquish in their 5-3 win over the Rays.
The blast also continued Granderson’s surge down the stretch. He now has five home runs and 11 RBIs in his past six games, his power critical during this equally-critical final stretch of the season.
“He’s all about swinging at strikes,” Alex Rodriguez said of Granderson. “You can’t try to do too much. When you see that he goes into these weeks where he hits with a lot of power, they’re usually strikes.”
Granderson has had a bizarre season — he’s batting just .234 (“I’ve never really looked at average as an important stat,” the center fielder said), he has struck out 174 times and he has stolen just eight bases.
But hThe center fielder now has 39 home runs and 92 RBIs. With 17 games to go, Granderson is on pace for 43 homers (which would be a career-high, surpassing last year’s 41) and 102 RBIs.
He’s also one homer shy of becoming the first Yankees outfielder to have consecutive 40-homer campaigns since Mickey Mantle in 1960-61.
“This is where you want to be, playing meaningful games in September,” Granderson said. “And this is where we are now.”