MLB

‘Grand’ slams getting Curtis back on track for Yankees

BALTIMORE — Nine games into the Yankees’ season, Curtis Granderson was hitting .156 and was as big a question mark at the plate as Derek Jeter, Brett Gardner and Jorge Posada.

Since then, however, the center fielder is batting .435 (10-for-23) with four homers and six RBIs and has increased his average to .273.

The difference? Nothing major.

CAPTAIN’S QUEST FOR 3,000

“I talked to [hitting coach] Kevin Long and he liked my at-bats and my swing,” Granderson said. “I wasn’t really out of whack and there was no need to change. It was a matter of an inch and being a little late.”

Lately, Granderson has been on time. Going into tonight’s game against the Orioles at Camden Yards, the left-handed hitter has homered in three straight games and driven in five runs in that stretch while hitting ninth, eighth and second.

“If you are in a good position to hit, you may not miss the pitch,” Granderson said.

A lifetime .218 career hitter (173-for-794) against lefties, Granderson is thriving against them this year, batting .353 (6-for-17) with three homers and five RBIs.

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CC Sabathia‘s ERA is 2.52 in four starts. He has fanned 23 in 25 innings and batters are hitting .167 (4-for-24) against him with runners in scoring position.

Yet, when the Yankees’ ace takes the mound tonight, he will be looking for his first win of the season — he’s 0-1.

“I don’t think about it,” Sabathia said. “It is what it is, but you put all your personal stuff aside. It’s all about the team winning. You can’t get caught up in that. If I make all my starts, that’s the number one goal.”

The Yankees are 2-2 in Sabathia’s starts, and that has to improve because of the questions behind him in the rotation.

Sabathia had entered his fifth start of the season winless just twice before. In 2008, he was 0-3 after four games and won his fifth. In 2003 he was 0-2 when he won in his seventh start. Six times, including the past two seasons, he got his first win in his second start.

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Right-hander Carlos Silva is scheduled to throw batting practice for the first time since signing a minor league deal earlier this month. Silva threw 45 pitches yesterday in his third bullpen session at the Yankees’ spring training complex and will throw batting practice tomorrow.

He was released by the Cubs during spring training after going 10-6 with a 4.22 ERA in 21 starts with Chicago last year. He is 70-70 with a 4.68 ERA in 316 games overall.

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Kevin Millwood is scheduled to make his second minor league start today at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The righty allowed one hit over seven shutout innings Sunday for Double-A Trenton. . . . Also today, Phil Hughes will throw his second bullpen session since going on the disabled list with a dead arm.

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Francisco Cervelli is ready to start a rehab assignment with Single-A Tampa.

“Basically, he is healthy and going through a spring training,” general manager Brian Cashman said of the reserve catcher, who fractured his left foot last month.

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With all the modern remedies available to players to help their bodies heal and stay healthy, several Yankees are keeping it simple: ice whirlpool baths.

“It helps regenerate your legs,” Jeter said of the five-minute plunge into the tub with ice cubes and water at a temperature of 55 degrees. “I started it at the end of 2009 when we had a lot of doubleheaders.”

Posada has been icing his bones longer than Jeter.

“I have been doing it since 1998 and do it more in the summer than now,” said Posada, who soaks in the frigid tub for five to seven minutes.

Granderson is another participant, using it after games.

Additional reporting by
the Associated Press