DETROIT — The Yankees had gone 0-for-16 with the bases loaded before last night’s second inning.
Not surprisingly, it was Curtis Granderson who snapped the skid — and he did it in typical fashion.
The center fielder’s grand slam gave the Yankees the lead in a 9-4 win over the Tigers last night.
“We’ve realized we’ve got to get more guys in, especially at these stadiums with the ‘LOB’ stat,” Granderson said, referring to how many runners the Yankees have left on base. “You see that number go up and up and up.”
Granderson’s blast came after Detroit starter Casey Crosby, making his major league debut, walked four batters in the second, including Derek Jeter to force in a run.
The lead Granderson provided seemed especially safe with CC Sabathia on the mound, but the lefty wasn’t in top form, especially during a 39-pitch third inning.
The ace allowed only a pair of runs that inning and managed to last seven innings, giving up just one more run to improve to 7-2.
“I was all over the place,” Sabathia said of the early innings. “My fastball command got a little better … and I was able to weather the storm.”
He struck out Brennan Boesch to end the third and got a double play to get out of a jam in the sixth to make Granderson’s blast hold up.
The center fielder now has 22 homers off lefties since the beginning of last season to lead the majors. Granderson pointed to adjustments he made in the middle of 2010 as the reason for the success.
“It was never a talk about increasing power numbers,” Granderson said. “The main thing when we made the change a couple of years back was to get consistent against them.”
“He’s figured it out,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s a completely different player.”
Even Sabathia has noticed the difference from his own dugout.
“He covers everything in the strike zone,” Sabathia said of his former opponent. “He used to chase a little more.”
The Yankees tacked on runs in the fourth and eighth before Alex Rodriguez hit his eighth homer in the ninth. The Yankees’ bullpen survived a shaky outing, with Rafael Soriano getting Miguel Cabrera to ground into a double play with the bases loaded for the final outs.
The Yankees hope Granderson’s grand slam, the fourth of his career, helps them break out of their season-long offensive funk.
Prior to last night’s game, the Yankees were hitting just .223 with runners in scoring position and a measly .151 with the bases loaded.
“Everyone knows what’s going on, but we also know what we’re capable of,” Granderson said. “Hopefully that’s something that gets us moving in the right direction.”