Yankees def. Tigers 11-7 on 3/15/08

March 15, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	5	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	3		11	17	1
Detroit	1	0	2	2	0	0	1	0	1		7	13	2

COMPLETE BOX SCORE AVAILABLE AT:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2008_03_15_nyamlb_detmlb_1


03/15/2008 4:22 PM ET
Granderson's moonshots not enough
Center fielder hits pair of homers, but Verlander struggles
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

YANKEES (ss) 11, TIGERS 7
at Lakeland, Fla,
Saturday, March 15

Yankees at the plate: The top third of New York's order -- regulars Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano -- combined for five hits and four runs, including a two-run double from Cano in the second inning. Jason Lane also doubled in two runs.

Tigers at the plate: Curtis Granderson fueled the Tigers offense with two home runs, turning on a Joba Chamberlain fastball to lead off the bottom of the first and adding a two-run shot in the fourth. In between, he tripled in another run and scored in the third, leaving him with three runs scored and four RBIs on the afternoon. Placido Polanco and Ivan Rodriguez added two hits each. Timo Perez added a solo homer in the ninth.

Yankees on the mound: Starter Joba Chamberlain pretty much commanded the plate with any Tigers batter not named Granderson. He lasted three innings with three runs on four hits and two strikeouts, including a called third strike on a 98-mph fastball past Edgar Renteria to end the second inning. Ex-Tiger Kyle Farnsworth added two scoreless innings.

Tigers on the mound: Out of the first 12 hitters Justin Verlander faced, nine of them reached base safely, and seven of them scored. He recovered to retire seven of his last eight batters, but the damage was done. Reliever Denny Bautista followed with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Grapefruit League records: Yankees 7-6-2, Tigers 11-6-2.

Up next for the Tigers: Detroit has its third and final split-squad day of Spring Training on Sunday, with both contests on the road. Dontrelle Willis will make his fourth start of the spring in a 1:05 p.m. ET matchup with the Rays at St. Petersburg. On the other side of the state, Yorman Bazardo will reprise his role as split-squad starter when he takes the mound opposite Pedro Martinez in a 1:10 p.m. ET game at Port St. Lucie.

Up next for the Yankees: New York will host Cleveland on Sunday in a 1:15 p.m. ET game at Legends Field. Chien-Ming Wang will face C.C. Sabathia in a rematch of Game 1 of last season's ALDS. The game will be carried on the YES Network and on WCBS radio.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Detroit	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Granderson, CF	4	3	3	4	0	0	1	.270
Clevlen, CF	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.407
Polanco, P, 2B	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	.486
Sizemore, 2B	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.261
Sheffield, DH	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.125
a-Trzesniak, PH-DH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Ordonez, RF	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.368
Perez, T, RF	2	2	2	1	0	0	0	.476
Cabrera, 3B	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	.297
Raburn, 3B	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	.256
Guillen, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	5	.293
Hessman, 1B	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.231
Renteria, SS	3	1	0	0	0	1	1	.206
Santiago, SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.455
Rodriguez, C	3	0	2	0	0	1	0	.375
1-St. Pierre, M, PR-C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Jones, J, LF	2	1	0	0	1	0	3	.200
Guzman, Fre, LF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.458
Totals	39	7	13	7	3	5	20
a-Flied out for Sheffield in the 9th. 1-Ran for Rodriguez in the 6th.
BATTING 2B: Cabrera (4, Farnsworth), Perez, T (4, Strickland). 3B: Granderson (3, Chamberlain). HR: Granderson 2 (4, 1st inning off Chamberlain, 0 on, 0 out; 4th inning off Ohlendorf, 1 on, 2 out), Perez, T (1, 9th inning off Veras, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Granderson 11; Polanco, P 2; Sheffield; Perez, T 6; Cabrera 2; Raburn; Rodriguez 2; Guzman, Fre. RBI: Granderson 4 (8), Polanco, P (7), Raburn (3), Perez, T (2). 2-out RBI: Granderson 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Guillen 2; Renteria; Polanco, P. GIDP: Ordonez; Guillen; Jones, J. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Sizemore (2, fielding), Perez, T (1, fielding). DP: 2 (Renteria-Polanco, P-Guillen, Santiago-Sizemore-Hessman).

Detroit	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Verlander (L, 2-1)	3.2	9	7	7	1	3	0	5.40
Bautista	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Byrdak	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	4.50
Grilli	1.0	3	1	1	0	0	1	3.72
Jones, T	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	15.88
Larrison	1.0	2	3	1	2	0	0	2.25

WP: Grilli, Larrison.
Ground outs-fly outs:
Chamberlain 5-2, Ohlendorf 2-1, Farnsworth 5-1, Strickland 1-2, Bruney
0-1, Veras 1-1, Verlander 5-3, Bautista 3-0, Byrdak 2-0, Grilli 2-1,
Jones, T 2-1, Larrison 3-0.
Batters faced: Chamberlain 15,
Ohlendorf 6, Farnsworth 8, Strickland 5, Bruney 4, Veras 4, Verlander
20, Bautista 5, Byrdak 4, Grilli 6, Jones, T 4, Larrison 8.
Umpires: HP: Adrian Johnson. 1B: Mark Wegner. 2B: . 3B: D.J. Reyburn.
Weather: 84 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 17 mph, Out to CF.
T: 3:13.
Att: 9,660.

Granderson is ready for the season to start!!

tigersaint wrote:

Granderson is ready for the season to start!!

He was slow starting, but he and Pudge got their groves back!!!!