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Granderson carries Tigers past Angels in opener

Apr 24, 2007 - 6:46 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Curtis Granderson and the Detroit Tigers wasted little time in this one.

Granderson finished just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle as the Tigers coasted to a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim.

Best known for his speed, Granderson opened the scoring with his third homer of the season during a two-run first inning off Angels starter Jered Weaver for a 2-0 lead.

"I know that my job as a leadoff hitter is to get on base and make things and put pressure on the pitchers," Granderson said. "I don't try to hit home runs, but I got a good pitch to hit and I just made solid contact."

Granderson singled and scored in the second, and doubled three frames later. He went 3-for-5 and has recorded a double in each of his last three games.

"It's always good to get on the board early against any team, especially against the Angels because we know they have a good lineup and can put runs on the board in a hurry," Granderson said.

"Curtis does such a great job for us making things happen and putting pressure on the other team at the top of our lineup," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

Gary Sheffield had a two-run single, Magglio Ordonez delivered a one-run base hit and Carlos Guillen added an RBI double in a five-run second to chase Weaver (0-2).

"We always like to try and get on the board to put pressure on the other teams pitcher and give our pitcher some run support to work with early in the game," Leyland said. "We did a good job at the plate early in the game being patient and making (Weaver) throw strikes."

"Their hitters did a good job being patient at the plate and making sure they got a good pitch to swing at off of Weaver," Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said.

Guillen and Ivan Rodriguez each had two RBI for the Tigers, who improve to 7-1 when scoring at least five runs this campaign.

Detroit's Jason Grilli (2-1) got out a bases-loaded jam in the fifth to pick up the win after relieving starter Mike Maroth.

Maroth allowed three runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings with five walks for his second straight no-decision.

"I just didn't have my best stuff," Maroth said. "My control wasn't all there but my team did a great job giving me plenty of runs to work with."

Weaver was pounded for seven runs and seven hits in just 1 2/3 innings for the shortest outing of his career.

"I just didn't have my best stuff working for me from the get go," Weaver said. "It seemed like I had nothing on any of my pitches and couldn't locate either. It was my first time pitching to that lineup and now I see why they were the best team in the league last year. I left a lot of pitches up and in the zone."

Gary Matthews Jr. drove in two runs and Shea Hillenbrand plated a runner for Anaheim, which had its three-game winning streak ended.