From Newsday

Yankees' offense not helping matters

KAT O'BRIEN | kat.obrien@newsday.com

May 2, 2008

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The Yankees were supposed to be able to count on their offense to carry them if the young pitchers struggled.

That doesn't mean they expected to coast to the World Series even if the starting pitchers gave up five runs per game. But they did think the bats could smooth over some holes.

So far, however, the offense has been a hole that needs to be filled. The Yankees rank 10th in the American League in runs scored, not a slot that picks up the pitching much. And things are not poised to improve without some changes now that Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are on the disabled list.

Problem No. 1 is Robinson Cano, who entered last night's game batting .151 (16-for-106) with two home runs and seven RBIs. Not far behind is Jason Giambi. His average is .164, but his five homers, 13 RBIs and 15 walks help balance that out.

Cano is well aware that the team is counting on him to be more productive. "It's about time that I start getting on base like I'm supposed to," he said.

Cano, who entered the year as a career .314 hitter, insists that neither his multiyear contract nor the loss of third- base coach Larry Bowa is a factor in his struggles. Bowa, a kick-in-the-butt mentor for Cano, went with Joe Torre to the Dodgers. But Cano points out that he struggled at times when Bowa was here.

For Cano and hitting coach Kevin Long, a priority is making sure he does not get too down on himself. Cano said he's keeping his confidence up because "if I get frustrated now, I'm never going to come out of [his slump]." Long, however, has noticed a difference in Cano's demeanor, something he says tends to happen when players struggle for an extended period.

Cano is hardly the only Yankee not hitting as expected, though. Very few of his teammates have been productive with runners in scoring position. Rodriguez is 3-for-23 (.130). Cano is 4-for-33 (.121). Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera, Morgan Ensberg and Jose Molina are hitting below .250 in those situations.

"It is a fact that our average isn't very good with runners on base," Matsui said through an interpreter. "The key now is what can we really do about it?"

Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter and Posada are hitting above their lifetime batting averages this season with runners in scoring position. Abreu, who hit a three-run homer in the first inning last night, said: "We just can't miss the opportunities to score runs when we have [opportunities]."

Even if the bulk of the players step things up, it will be hard to patch the gaps left by Posada and Rodriguez. Posada is one of the top offensive catchers in the major leagues, good for 20 home runs and 90 RBIs a year. Rodriguez is a three-time Most Valuable Player who hit 54 homers and knocked in 156 runs last season.

"Nobody can ever really replace what Alex and Jorge do," Matsui said. "For the team, the key is we have to keep plugging our offense. We have to keep pushing guys around the bases."

For the Yankees to be so-so or below offensively is a novel concept. They finished first or second in the American League in runs scored five of the previous six years (they were third in 2003) and first or second in batting average each of the previous three years.

"I know we're capable of scoring a lot more runs," manager Joe Girardi said.

There's still time to recover. Said Cano, who has good reason to hope this is true: "It's not how you start but how you finish."

Farm report: Rasner gets another chance

Darrell Rasner has done absolutely everything for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre the Yankees could ask, which is why he is getting the call to fill in for injured Phil Hughes against Seattle on Sunday.

The 27-year-old righthander is 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA in five starts for Scranton. His worst outing? That was April 16, when he allowed one earned run, four hits and three walks in five innings, striking out six. Not bad.

Rasner has not allowed more than one earned run in any start and has held opponents scoreless twice. In each of his other four starts, he has lasted six-plus innings. He has issued six walks and struck out 27.

"He knows how to pitch," said Chad Moeller, who caught Rasner earlier this season while with Scranton. "He can command the ball to both sides of the plate. He's keeping them off-balance by changing speeds."