Granderson is one Tiger getting his licks in

It's been a memorable week for Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson. Last Wednesday, he hit a leadoff homer (after a rain delay) in his first-ever at-bat against Seattle's Cha Seung Baek, in a game Detroit lost, 9-2.

On Monday, seeing Daisuke Matsuzaka for the first time, Granderson had a single and a homer, but the Tigers struggled for offense otherwise and lost, 7-1.

He saw some similarities between Baek and Matsuzaka, both of whom got better as the innings progressed.

"You have success off them early, and then both of them come in late and learn and figure a way to get me out," said Granderson. "Everyone's thinking and learning in this game -- before, during, and after. It's amazing how pitchers can do it throughout the course of the game. There are nine guys they've got to remember."

Although Tigers manager Jim Leyland was vocal about how much he didn't care for the hype surrounding Matsuzaka or anybody else pitching against his club, Granderson said you had to give the Sox pitcher his due.

"He had a lot of pitches he was able to work as the game got going," said Granderson. "It seemed like he just needed to warm up a little bit. Once he got warmed up, there wasn't any cooling him down.

"His fastball rotated to both sides of the plate. Even though it was straight, it was very effective. He also had the little cutter to keep guys honest. When he needed to go to his changeup, gyroball, splitter, whatever you want to call it, if not all three, they were all very effective because they had different action. When you throw a pitch that looks similar but one goes up and one goes down, you can be very effective."

Last night, Granderson had a different challenge in facing knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. He had had four previous at-bats against Wakefield, with two hits, including a home run, and also two walks. On Aug. 26, 2005, Granderson drilled a ball off Wakefield down the line in right, by Pesky's Pole. It was initially ruled foul, but after a discussion among the umpires, it was deemed a home run.

"I had that controversial home run in 2005 against him and another hit, but outside of that, I don't have a ton of success against him," said Granderson. "It's amazing, I've been looking at the stuff on him now and he's leading the league in batting average against, and I'm waiting to see how it's dancing -- it must be dancing a lot this year.

"One game against the Yankees, when they were slowing it down, you could see it was dancing a lot."

Generally speaking, he doesn't mind knuckleball pitchers but every experience against them is different.

"It all depends on the day," he said. "It's kind of like a guy playing basketball. He can either be on or off. The conditions definitely weigh in in a lot of that.

"If the wind is helping him, he's definitely going to be one of the best pitchers that day. If the wind is hurting him or not a factor, it's like hitting a really slow pitch. You know it's not going to go past you. If you can be patient enough, you kind of revert back to when you were a little kid, playing sandlot baseball. When guys threw the ball slow, that's when you had your success."

Heading into last night, Granderson was hot; in his last eight games, he had hit .345 with two doubles, two triples, three homers, and eight RBIs. One factor that has helped his play is the addition of veteran Gary Sheffield.

"Experience, No. 1, and knowledge," said Granderson. "Watching his approach against certain guys, watching how he battles and prepares for certain guys, he takes a massive swing and falls down but still gets a walk, stuff like that.

"Just to hear him talk about how he gets ready, certain things you need to do to be successful offensively, not only from a hitting standpoint but from a base-stealing standpoint and a defensive standpoint even though he hasn't been out there that much.

"So it's been interesting just to sit back and listen. I don't have to say anything, I just learn and take it all in. He's answering a lot of questions before I even have a chance to ask them."

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at Marrapese@globe.com.