Rodriguez went 0 for 5 in the cleanup spot, but Mark Teixeira followed Granderson’s seventh-inning speed show with a more conventional homer and Ivan Nova (13-4) pitched seven shutout innings as the Yankees took three of four from the Twins.
Nova allowed five hits and struck out five to rebound from a poor start in Kansas City and Mariano Rivera picked up his 33d save in 38 tries.
Joe Mauer had three hits for the Twins, who lost starter Nick Blackburn in the second inning because of a strained right forearm. Phil Dumatrait (1-2) got the loss in two innings of relief.
In a breakout season in the Bronx, Granderson has launched 34 balls into the seats to help the Yankees weather Rodriguez’s long absence.
The Yankees left the bases loaded twice in the first five innings and seemed to be slogging through the final game of a seven-day road trip when Granderson stepped to the plate against Jose Mijares in the seventh.
His drive hit high off the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center field and got away from both center fielder Ben Revere and right fielder Jason Kubel.
“I’ve never seen a ball hit up into that area,’’ Kubel said. “I just thought it was like every other ball, 99 percent of the time it just drops down and hits the fence.’’
Instead it kicked away and Granderson motored around the bases and easily beat the throw home for his third career inside-the-park home run.
It’s the kind of play MVPs make, and Rodriguez wasn’t shy about making that connection.
“When people compare him to other players, you can’t forget he’s a center fielder and he’s playing a high quality defense out there,’’ Rodriguez said. “He’s scoring a bunch of runs, RBIs, the two most important stats in baseball. And he’s helping our first-place team do what they’re doing. In my eyes, he’s the MVP.’’
Teixeira followed with a solo shot to left field to make it 3-0, giving them enough room even with Rodriguez still shaking the rust off in his first game in more than a month and a half.
Rodriguez missed 38 games after having surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee. The injury sapped a lot of the power from his muscular swing, limiting him to 13 homers in his first 80 games.
