CC, Yankees' bats struggle in loss to Tigers

DETROIT - What Rick Porcello did to the Yankees in Game 1 Wednesday, what Phil Hughes did to the Tigers in Game 2 that night, Justin Verlander did to the Yankees Thursday.

The Yankees wrapped up a mostly unimpressive series at the plate and didn't get much from CC Sabathia in falling to Verlander and the Tigers, 6-0, at Comerica Park.

Verlander, Joel Zumaya and Eddie Bonine combined on the Tigers' second four-hit shutout in the final three games of the series, sandwiching a six-hit shutout by Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera.

The Yankees never got a runner past second base yesterday. "We just didn't swing the bats very well in Detroit," manager Joe Girardi said.

The Yankees (22-12) lost a series for only the second time in 11 tries this season and have to regroup quickly; the AL Central-leading Twins come to the Stadium for a three-game series that starts Friday night. A big week follows with home series against the Red Sox and Rays before a weekend set at Citi Field against the Mets.

Aside from Jorge Posada's two hits, the Yankees - who have lost four of their last five - did little in a 2-hour, 38-minute game the teams somehow got in despite a forecast of saturating rains and thunderstorms.

The Yankees were without Nick Swisher, who left in the eighth inning of Wednesday's second game with tightness in his left biceps. It's only natural to wonder if the injuries in recent weeks, especially those to Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson, have affected the lineup.

"You really can't use that as an excuse," said Derek Jeter, who was hit in the left pinkie by a 95-mph fastball in the fifth but stayed in the game and said he was fine afterward. "That's something you have to play through. The bottom line is we'd like to be swinging the bats a lot better, and hopefully when we get home, we can start to do that."

Mark Teixeira, 3-for-17 in the series, agreed, saying the Yankees are in one of those stretches every team goes through. "I give a lot of credit to the Tigers pitchers,'' he said. "Those guys pitched really well this series." The Yankees scored six runs in the ninth inning of Game 2 Wednesday and six runs in the other 35 innings in the series.

Verlander (4-2, 3.88) allowed four hits and four walks in 62/3 innings. "He's not a guy that you really look forward to facing when a team is hot offensively, let alone when you really haven't been swinging the bats too well," Jeter said.

Sabathia (4-2, 3.71), not at all sharp, gave up a season-high six runs in six innings. He lost for the fourth time in his last five starts at Comerica Park and was disgusted that he gave up two home runs in a game for the second straight outing.

Miguel Cabrera hit his eighth homer, a solo shot in the fourth, to make it 2-0. Four pitches later, rookie Brennan Boesch - who has 11 extra-base hits in his first 16 games - homered to make it 3-0. Boesch, who also doubled, was 7-for-13 with five RBIs in the series. Cabrera doubled home two runs and scored on Gerald's Laird's double in the sixth. Laird, batting .157 entering the game, had a pair of two-out RBI hits.

Sabathia said watching his offense fail to put anything together was a challenge but not an excuse. "It's definitely kind of tough, but we're in one of those stretches where we just have to grind it out," he said. "That's going to happen. You're going to have some ups and downs during the year and it's our [pitchers'] job to try and keep us in the game and try to ride this thing out."