DETROIT—Justin Verlander tossed seven shutout innings and Magglio Ordonez slammed a two-run homer as the Detroit Tigers survived a ninth-inning wobble to beat the struggling New York Yankees 4-2 on Monday.
Verlander (1-2), who had made it beyond the fifth inning only once in his four previous starts, scattered seven hits over seven plus innings, striking out nine without a walk to record his first win of the season.
"It's nice to get the first one," Verlander told reporters. "Obviously I would have liked to have gotten it earlier but now that I have hopefully there's more to come.
"Today I just told myself go out there and do what you do."
It was the third straight victory for the Tigers, who continue to lead the American League Central division, while the Yankees slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat.
The high-powered Yankees sputtered into the Motor City following a three-game sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox.
"I don't get excited about things like this right now," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland about his team's 11-8 start.
"I'm just glad that we are playing good and getting some in the right column."
Sitting on top of the Central division with the Yankees in town, the game would have been a sell-out in any other year. But with General Motors earlier announcing it was cutting brands and slicing thousands of jobs in the U.S., there were plenty of empty seats at Comerica Park.
The 28,784 who did show up were treated to a superb pitching performance from Verlander before he gave up back-to-back singles in the eighth and handed over to the bullpen.
Bobby Seay ended the threat but the Tigers were in trouble again in the ninth as the Yankees scored two runs off Fernando Rodney before the Detroit closer recovered.
Sabathia (1-2), who signed in the offseason with the Yankees for $161 million, continued his early season woes as Miguel Cabrera's first inning RBI single gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
The hulking left-hander quickly settled down to keep the Tigers at bay for the next four innings but ran into trouble in the sixth with Placido Polanco batting in another run with a looping single followed immediately by Ordonez's two-run homer.
New York's highlight of the night came in the first inning when Derek Jeter settled in for his 8,103 at bat and surpassed Mickey Mantle as the Yankees' all-time at bats leader.
