CLEVELAND - Alex Rodriguez may be having trouble connecting on his next home run, but that hasn't been a problem lately for Curtis Granderson.  Granderson's two-run blast in the eighth inning lifted the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Indians, kicking off the Bombers' seven-game road trip on the right note. It was Granderson's third home run in two games, following up his two-homer performance on Sunday.  A-Rod's bruised left hand didn't keep him out of the lineup, but he was unable to complete his journey into the 600 club. Rodriguez went 0-for-4, extending his homerless streak to 17 at-bats. A-Rod will try again tonight, as he celebrates his 35th birthday.  Manager Joe Girardi bypassed Joba Chamberlain with a one-run lead in the eighth, using Dave Robertson and Boone Logan to get three outs after Javier Vazquez walked the leadoff hitter to put the tying run on base.  Vazquez picked up the win with seven-plus innings of two-run ball, giving up five hits and three walks, striking out five to improve to 9-7. Since May 12, Vazquez is 8-4 with a 3.10 ERA. Mariano Rivera closed out the game for his 21st save of the season.

Before the game, Girardi said he wasn't disturbed by the three-game power outage to end the Yankees' home stand, noting that A-Rod has had streaks of more three games without a home run on seven different occasions this season. Rodriguez has actually had homerless streaks of nine, 10, 11 and 15 this season, so three games wasn't going to cause any concern for his manager.  "His at-bats have been good, he just hasn't hit a home run," Girardi said. "If you allow it to become an issue, it can become an issue. This is not unusual for him to go three days without hitting a home run. As long as he's being productive and helping us win, that's my focus. He's been doing that."  Rodriguez didn't do much to help the Yankees Monday night, but while starter Jake Westbrook managed to keep A-Rod in the park, he couldn't say the same about Nick Swisher and Granderson, who both homered to lead the Yankees to their seventh win in the last nine games.  It took 28 at-bats for Rodriguez to go from 499 to 500, so his 17 at-bat stretch is still a few days away from reaching his milestone march from 2007. A-Rod has endured homerless skids of 34, 39, 46 and 59 at-bats this season, the longest coming during a 15-game stretch from April 21-May 8.

The Indians fans in the Progressive Field crowd of 27,224 didn't seem to care that A-Rod was looking to make history, satisfied with the opportunity to jeer the three-time MVP each time he strolled to the plate.  That wasn't much of a change of pace for A-Rod, who receives similar treatment in virtually every road ballpark around the majors.  "He's done so many things in a hostile environment, I'm sure it won't really faze him," Girardi said before the game. "It would be nice if he could hit it in our bullpen."  Rodriguez struck out to lead off the second inning, then lined into a controversial double play in the fourth. A-Rod's sinking liner appeared to hit the grass before settling in Trevor Crowe's glove, but third-base umpire Jerry Meals called Rodriguez out. Crowe threw to second base, where Jason Donald easily tagged out Mark Teixeira to end the inning on the bizarre 7-4 double play.  Travis Hafner gave the Tribe a lead in the second with a solo homer off Vazquez, but Nick Swisher tied it up with a solo blast of his own in the fourth, his 18th of the season.  Cleveland regained the lead in the sixth on Shin-Soo Choo's RBI double, but Granderson provided the winning runs with a two-run homer, his 10th of the season. Granderson has hit safely in six straight games, going 9-for-21 (.428) with three homers.  A-Rod, who grounded out to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera in the seventh, got one last crack at his milestone in the ninth, but he popped out to first baseman Matt LaPorta.