Propping up lineup, Grandy OK with pressure

CHICAGO -- With the Yankees scuffling offensively and Derek Jeter now back on the disabled list for the third time this season, Curtis Granderson says he's not feeling any added pressure but instead just going about the game the way he always does.

Granderson returned to the Yankees' lineup on Friday in San Diego after missing most of the season with two injuries -- one to his right wrist and another to his right hand.

Granderson sustained a fractured wrist on Feb. 25 when he was hit by a pitch in his first Spring Training at-bat. He missed the first month and a half of the regular season, but after playing only eight games in May, he was hit by another pitch that fractured his right pinky finger.

"No, no added pressure," Granderson said on Tuesday. "I've just got to come in and do what I can. I can't make up a whole season in one day. All I can do is play one day at a time. The main thing is to make sure I feel good and get my reps and work in ... make sure my legs and body are able to handle the rigors of nine innings, back to back and travel and that good stuff. That's all I'm able to do right now."

Granderson said that despite the Yankees' struggles with injuries and at the plate, he hopes the team can catch fire at the right time and make a push for the postseason.

"That's baseball," Granderson said. "You've just got to get hot at the right time. I've been on the other side of it, being with Detroit once we made it to the World Series [in 2006]. We lost fire and ended up losing the World Series to St. Louis that year, but the main thing is to make that run. You're going to make it either at the beginning, the middle or at the end, and hopefully for us it, can be at the end and be long enough for us to sustain to get us where we need to be."