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Tigers hold off Yankees

Aug 26, 2007 - 10:03 PM DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers added to the struggles of New York Yankees rookie pitcher Phil Hughes.

Curtis Granderson led off the bottom of the first inning with an inside-the-park home run and Carlos Guillen and Marcus Thames added two-run shots off Hughes, powering the Tigers to a 5-4 victory on Sunday.

After dropping 21 of their previous 30 games, the Tigers (70-60) have won two of the first three in the four-game series against the Yankees that concludes Monday. They remained 2 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Indians (72-57) in the American League Central Division.

"We've had our bad moments, but no one can ever say this team isn't busting its butt," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "That's the one thing that makes a manager proud."

The Yankees (72-58), who dropped to 2-4 on their seven-game road trip, fell 7 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox (80-51) in the AL East. New York took advantage of a favorable schedule after the All-Star break to climb back into playoff contention. But the Yankees have cooled off against tougher competition, going 5-7 in their last 12 contests.

The highly touted Hughes (2-2) settled down, allowing only four hits in six innings - none after Thames' homer - but could not overcome the home runs and dropped his second straight start.

"We lost, that's the worst apart about my performance," Hughes said. "That's the only way to look at it."

In his last outing, a 7-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the righthander struggled with his control, walking five and giving up five runs in 6 1/3 innings.

"He pitched great," Yankees manager Joe Torre said of Hughes. "He miss-located a couple pitches that went for home runs but he settled in and gave us innings. He's a special kid, he's still learning."

Granderson gave the Tigers the lead with his second career inside-the-park home run on a line drive that got past Yankees left fielder Hideki Matsui and rolled around in the corner.

"(Third base coach Gene) Lamont kept waving me," Granderson said. "Sure enough, I'm going to go based on what Gene Lamont does. If he stops me, I stop. If he waves me, I keep going."

Placido Polanco followed with a single and, two outs later, Guillen drilled a long shot to right to make it 3-0. Thames' drive over the left field fence staked the Tigers to a 5-1 lead in the third.

"I made three bad pitches and got us in a hole early," Hughes added. "It's always tough to come back from that."

Tigers rookie starter Jair Jurrjens left the game in the second inning with posterior right shoulder soreness. Jurrjens grabbed his shoulder after giving up a solo homer to Jason Giambi and was lifted. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list following the game.

"I felt pain since I was throwing, warming up for the game," Jurrjens said. "I thought it was going to go away but it didn't."

Jurrjens said his pain level was an eight on a scale of one to 10.

"It's like you see your dream going away," he said of going on the DL. "I'm happy it's not going to be a really big thing. It might take me out for a couple weeks and I'll try to get stronger and come back, help the team."

Chad Durbin replaced Jurrjens and blanked the Yankees until the fourth, when Robinson Cano's three-run shot made it 5-4.

New York threatened in the fifth as Jose Molina and Melky Cabrera singled with one out, putting runners on first and second. But Bobby Seay (1-0) took over for Durbin and retired Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez to preserve the lead and earn the victory, his first since September 1, 2001.

"It's been a long time coming - six years," Seay said.

Detroit's bullpen dominated thereafter, allowing only one baserunner over the final four innings, a single by Jason Giambi in the ninth.

Seay worked two perfect innings and hard-throwing Joel Zumaya recorded four outs before Todd Jones tossed the ninth for his 33rd save.

"I had a good day," Zumaya said. "My velocity was a little better. My off-speed was there today. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to go out there and throw strikes."

The Yankees played without shortstop Derek Jeter and catcher Jorge Posada. Jeter took the day off due to soreness in his right knee and Posada was rested.

"It's just an annoying thing," Jeter said. "I'll be back in the lineup tomorrow. Sometimes, you just need a day to rest."

Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez was ejected in the fourth inning by plate umpire Sam Holbrook for arguing balls and strikes.