Granderson sparkles against former team

Turns out facing Justin Verlander isn't so hard after all.

Curtis Granderson was spared from stepping into the batter's box against the flame-throwing righty until Tuesday night - save a few times in spring training - because Verlander had only known Granderson as a teammate in his first five seasons in the majors.

Granderson must have picked up something from all those times watching the Tigers' ace from centerfield.

In his first at-bat off Verlander, Granderson smacked a 2-and-1 fastball just over the Modell's sign in right-center that separates the field-level seats from the bleachers to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead in the second inning.

In Verlander's world, the pitch could hardly be called a "fastball," as it hit just 92 miles per hour on the radar gun and was out over the middle of the plate. Verlander, who fell to 13-8, typically throws in the high 90s, but his velocity and control (he walked five, tying a season high) were off Tuesday night.

For Granderson, it was his 12th home run of the season and second in the last four games. Up to that point, the Tigers, Granderson's former team, had never gotten him out, as he went 3-for-3 with a walk on Monday night.

"Just trying to get a pitch to hit and not miss it," Granderson said of the homer. "I got one in that at-bat, and didn't miss that one. Very few pitches over the course of the game that you're gonna get to do that off a guy like Verlander, and that was the one."

In just the last two days, Granderson lifted his average from .240 to .248. Since hitting coach Kevin Long tweaked Granderson's swing in Texas to make it more compact, Granderson is 8-for-23 (.347) with three walks.

"The one thing we're seeing is more consistent at-bats," manager Joe Girardi said. "He gets down 0-2 to the lefty and ends up working a walk. Hits a home run off of Verlander. Since they made that minor adjustment in Texas and we gave him a couple of days off, his at-bats have been real consistent."

The Tigers finally cooled Granderson off in the third when he grounded out to first to end the inning with Jorge Posada, who stole second, left on base. Granderson struck out with a check swing on a 1-and-2 curveball in the dirt to lead off the sixth against reliever Daniel Schlereth, the son of former NFL guard and current ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth.

In the seventh, Granderson fought back from an 0-and-2 count against lefthander Brad Thomas to work a one-out walk. It was only Granderson's sixth walk in 106 at-bats against lefthanders this season, a group he has an anemic .264 on-base percentage against. Five of six pitches Thomas threw Granderson were sliders, but he never offered at any pitches outside the strike zone.

Through all of Granderson's tribulations at the plate this season, one facet that hasn't waned is his defense. In the first inning, after he made a nice running grab to snag Ramon Santiago's long fly ball, he made a spectacular diving catch in left-center to rob Johnny Damon of an extra-base hit. The play came just two batters after Austin Jackson homered on the first pitch of the game.

Said CC Sabathia of Granderson's web gems: "It was huge, huge, and I told him that after the first inning because it probably could have gotten a little ugly. He definitely saved my butt a couple times."