The Yankees have had to rely on Curtis Granderson’s bat more than a few times this season, but last night, they needed his glove.
Granderson, playing in his customary shallow spot in center, had to race deep into left-center to catch up to Omar Quintanilla’s drive in the seventh inning that almost certainly would have scored Josh Thole from first to tie a game the Yankees ended up winning, 4-2.
“Whenever you can keep runs from scoring, it’s always big,” Granderson said.
Especially when you’re going through an 0-for-18 slump.
Granderson snapped that in the bottom of the eighth when he hit his 18th homer of the season, a shot to right off Bobby Parnell to give the Yankees an insurance run.
Despite the hitless streak, Granderson never thought he lost his swing.
“I felt like I had decent at-bats,” Granderson said. “I just haven’t been able to do much with them. It’s not mechanical.”
But he hasn’t been bothered in the field. After Thole’s one-out single in the seventh knocked Phil Hughes out of the game, southpaw Boone Logan was brought in to face the lefty-hitting Quintanilla.
Though the Mets’ newest shortstop isn’t about to make anyone forget Ruben Tejada, let alone Jose Reyes, he has had a strong Subway Series so far.
After coming up with the Mets’ only hit off Hiroki Kuroda on Friday night — a double up the gap in left-center — Quintanilla added a homer to right in the second inning last night. Then he came up with what looked like another extra-base hit in the seventh.
“It was just a matter of trying to get there,” Granderson said. “The ball hung up a little bit, and I was able to get there and catch it. A play like that can change a ballgame.”
It did. Thole never scored and the Mets failed to knot the game.
And it made Granderson even more confident about leaving plenty of room between him and the fence.
“It can go both ways,” Granderson said. “You don’t want a double [over your head], but I feel more comfortable going back. I feel better that way, and I get a better jump going back since that’s my first instinct.”
One that served the Yankees well last night.