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Granderson, Sheffield lead Tigers past Yankees

Apr 30, 2008 - 3:54 AM By Zachary Braziller PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEW YORK (TICKER) -- Tuesday night was an evening of homecomings at Yankee Stadium - happy and sad.

Curtis Granderson and Gary Sheffield homered and Kenny Rogers tossed six solid innings to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 6-4 win over the New York Yankees on Tuesday.

After a seven-city, 21-day, 20-game road trip, the Yankees returned to the Bronx, but they were not the only ones back at Yankee Stadium. Former New York players Sheffield and Rogers were back as members of the Tigers.

Sheffield ripped a two-run homer off Phil Hughes (0-4) in a three-run second inning and Rogers (2-3) pitched around early trouble to go six innings while allowing just two earned runs, six hits and four strikeouts.

"He got some huge outs there, especially with the bases loaded," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said of Rogers. "He walked too many people but settled in as the game went on and threw pretty good."

Rogers, who had had gone 18-15 with a 5.11 ERA in two seasons with the Yankees in 1996 and 1997, allowed a two-run homer to Robinson Cano in the fourth.

"It's nice to win here because I know they're a very good team, they always are and always will be," Rogers said. "I know they didn't have all their guys in there, but I'll take it."

It was Hughes' seventh straight loss dating to last year. The young righthander, whose ERA jumped to an even 9.00, allowed eight hits and six runs while walking three and striking out two in 3 2/3 innings.

Hughes walked Granderson leading off the game and surrendered a single to Placido Polanco, who raised his average from .174 to .215 with a 4-for-5 effort. After striking out Sheffield, to the delight of the home crowd, Hughes allowed Magglio Ordonez's a two-run single.

"I can't throw the ball where I want to, that's the biggest key for me," Hughes said. "It's about staying consistent."

Detroit put it away in the third when Granderson jumped all over a 1-1 fastball, blasting it over the wall in center. After Polanco doubled, Sheffield cranked a curveball into the left-field stands, several rows back. The Tigers added another run in the fourth before Hughes was lifted.

"The most important thing, if we played good as a team, we got the win," Sheffield said. "This team battled back, they tried to make a run at us, but we got through it."

The Yankees had enough chances against Rogers, who worked in and out of trouble through the first three frames.

New York's biggest threat came in the eighth, when righthanded reliever Danny Bautista walked Shelly Duncan, pinch hitter Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon before hitting Derek Jeter with a pitch to force in a run. But Clay Rapada came on and got Bobby Abreu to ground out to end the threat.

Four relievers bridged the gap to closer Todd Jones, who allowed a run in the ninth but picked up his fifth save.

"It's definitely tough to hang on and win a game around here," Leyland said. "So this is a good start for us."