"Curtis Granderson cannot tell a lie.

The Yankees' centerfielder can't remember how to tie his necktie.

"I get it OK as the season goes along, Tex [Mark Teixeira] is good showing me," Granderson said, unabashed upon handing his tie to a clubhouse attendant following yesterday's 5-2 victory over the Jays in The Bronx in which his three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth broke, well, a tie. "But I kind of forget during the off-season."

Granderson's muscle memory may be compromised as it relates to sartorial matters, but it couldn't be sharper regarding his approach at home plate. The Yankees will take the trade-off.

For Granderson's blow into the right-field grandstand off Jesse Litsch was his eighth home run of the season, moving him into a tie with Robinson Cano for the club lead; he's tied for third with 18 RBIs. This level of contribution is less a luxury for the Yankees than it is essential.

Derek Jeter is at .242 following yesterday's 0-for-3 that featured two groundballs and a strikeout. Alex Rodriguez is homerless in 27 straight at-bats, during which he has three hits altogether following yesterday's 0-for-4. Jorge Posada's double marked his 10th hit of the year. Brett Gardner inched up to .200.

And yet, largely because of Granderson and Cano; because of Ivan Nova, who pitched into the seventh for the victory, and Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia, guys who were originally perceived as bailing wire but now must make hay, the Yankees are 16-9 as they head to Detroit.

What a difference a year makes. It is a year to the day that Granderson was placed on the DL with a groin pull he suffered last May 1, a week before a trip to Detroit that he could not make. Thus, this marks his first trip back to the city he called home for five years before his trade to New York in early December 2009."