"Curtis Granderson was in the middle of answering questions from a pack of reporters Sunday after the Yankees' 5-2 victory over Toronto when he passed a striped tie through a tangle of notebooks and television cameras to a clubhouse attendant, who walked a few paces away and began knotting the tie.

Granderson is going "through a little tie slump," he said, laughing. He blames an offseason of casual outfits. But who cares if his Windsor knots aren't crisp? He's acing pretty much everything else these days and his pinch-knotter makes him look stylish enough to board the team charter.

Granderson snapped a 2-2 tie by slamming a three-run homer in the fifth inning off Jesse Litsch at the Stadium, the decisive blow in the Yankees' fourth victory in five games. It was his eighth homer of the season, tying him with Robinson Cano for second in the American League, and continued Granderson's remarkable run since he and hitting coach Kevin Long rebuilt his swing last August.

The homer, a fly ball over the right field wall, also made a winner out of Ivan Nova (2-2), who pitched into the seventh inning for the second straight start. While parts of Nova's final line looked fine - 6-1/3 innings, six hits and two runs - he walked four and spent much of the afternoon pitching out of trouble. The Jays were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position against him.

Nova got some fielding help from Granderson, too. Jose Bautista, a hitter the Yankees can't seem to prevent from crushing the ball, rifled a liner to center with two out in the first and Granderson darted back for a nifty over-the-shoulder grab. To Granderson, it was payback for bungling a ball in center in Nova's start last week.

Granderson apologized to Nova after the misplay against the White Sox and Nova playfully reminded him of it Sunday. "I said, 'You owe me one,'" Nova recalled."