Detroit, MI – Curtis Granderson hit a homer and knocked in four runs, as the New York Yankees snapped Detroit's 10-game home winning streak with a 12-8 victory.
Eric Chavez and Mark Teixeira added two RBI apiece for the American League East-leading Yankees, who had lost the first two games of this four-game series. Robinson Cano, Ichiro Suzuki and Nick Swisher each drove in a run.
"It shows every run is big, no matter when you actually get it, no matter what the lead happens to be when you get them," Granderson said.
New York starter CC Sabathia (12-3), coming off a complete game three-hit performance in a 6-3 win over Seattle last Friday, gave up five runs -- three earned -- on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings.
Omar Infante hit a solo homer for the Tigers, who had a six-game winning streak snapped. Brennan Boesch and Jeff Baker both knocked in two runs.
Anibal Sanchez (1-2) allowed seven runs on seven hits over three-plus innings for Detroit, which remained a half-game behind the White Sox in the AL Central.
"We just didn't pitch very well tonight," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
The Yankees gave Sabathia some early support by scoring seven runs over the first four innings. Chavez and Granderson hit consecutive RBI singles in the first to give New York a 2-0 lead.
Granderson's three-run homer in the third extended the margin. Cano was hit by a pitch and Chavez walked to put two men on with two outs. Granderson followed with a blast to right to make it a 5-0 contest.
New York tacked on two more runs in the fourth. Casey McGehee led off with a double, moved to third on Derek Jeter's single and scored on Swisher's base hit to right. Duane Below came in from the bullpen and gave up a sacrifice fly to Teixeira, making it a seven-run game.
The Tigers managed to get on the board in the bottom half. Baker hit a two-out double and raced home on Boesch's single to center.
Detroit added two more runs in the sixth to close the gap. Prince Fielder's infield single and Delmon Young's ground-rule double put men on second and third, and Baker followed with a two-run single to left to make it 7-3.
New York got one run back in the seventh. Granderson doubled, moved to third on Russell Martin's groundout and scored on Suzuki's infield single.
But the Tigers responded with four runs in the home half to make things interesting. Austin Jackson led off with a single and moved to third two batters later when Miguel Cabrera reached first on third baseman McGehee's fielding error. Fielder's run-scoring groundout chased Sabathia from the game.
David Robertson allowed Young to reach base on an infield single that was deflected by first baseman Teixeira. Pinch-hitter Andy Dirks hit an RBI single to left, Boesch knocked in a run with an infield single to third and pinch- hitter Alex Avila hit an RBI single to left to make it 8-7.
The Yankees answered with two big runs in the eighth. Former Yankee Phil Coke gave up consecutive one-out singles to Swisher and Cano. Teixeira's RBI single to left and Chavez's run-scoring groundout gave New York a 10-7 edge.
Infante's solo homer to left in the bottom half made it a two-run game.
New York added two insurance runs in the ninth. Brayan Villarreal was called for a balk after putting men on the corners with two outs. Cano added an RBI single to make it 12-8.
Game Notes
The Yankees, who were ousted in five games by the Tigers in last October's ALDS, lead the season series by a 5-4 margin...Sabathia improved to 18-12 in 35 career starts against Detroit...The Tigers were trying to win 11 straight games at home for the first time since August of 1949...The Yankees had a season-high 18 hits.
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