Major League Baseball

HITTING THE SKIDS; YANKEES CAN'T GET IN SWING OF THINGS

Published Oct. 19, 2010 10:10 p.m. ET

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Maybe the Yankees should invite Lady Gaga back to the Stadium for Game 4 of the AL Championship Series tonight. The banned pop star has something the Yankees don't right now - lots of hits.

In the first three games of the series, the Yankees' bats have looked like toothpicks. They had the excuse of facing Cliff Lee last night, but they have looked lost at the plate against all three Rangers starters.

If the Yankees hitters don't show up soon, they'll have all winter to work on their swings.

Lee made the Yankees look foolish: They struck out 13 times and managed just two hits against the Rangers lefty. The Yankees have had just one big inning in the 27 played in this series - the eighth inning of Game 1, when they mounted their comeback against the Rangers' bullpen.

"We've got to score some more runs," said Mark Teixeira, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. "Our offense has been great all year. We've done it all year, but [the Rangers pitchers] have really stepped it up."

Yankees regulars are batting .194 in this series (19-for-98) with 30 strikeouts. If you take Robinson Cano (5-for-12) out of that equation, the average drops to .163.

The top of the Yankees order has been particularly dreadful. Derek Jeter (3-for-13, 6 Ks), Nick Swisher (1-for-11, 4 Ks), Mark Teixeira (0-for-11, 3 Ks) and Alex Rodriguez (2-for-13, 3 Ks) have failed miserably outside of that one inning.

"I would say we're due," Rodriguez said, looking ahead to tonight's Game 4.

Despite Lee's dominance, the Yankees stayed in the game thanks to Andy Pettitte, who allowed just two runs in seven innings.

Though the Yankees were within two runs until the bullpen's ninth-inning implosion, no one could find a way to break through. They did not manage a base runner until the fourth inning, when Teixeira walked, and did not get a hit until the fifth, when Jorge Posada singled.

Brett Gardner was the only Yankee to reach second base, getting there in the sixth on a base hit and a stolen base. But the Yankees failed with runners in scoring position again. Jeter struck out. Swisher grounded out, moving Gardner to third, and Teixeira grounded out. The Yankees are 4-for-26 in the series with runners in scoring position.

"The bottom line is two hits and one walk is just not good enough for our offense," Rodriguez said.

Enough to drive you batty

Five Yankees regulars are hitting at or below the Mendoza line in the ALCS:

G AB R H HR RBI BB SO AVG

Posada 3 10 0 2 0 0 1 5 .200

Rodriguez 3 13 1 2 0 0 0 3 .154

Granderson 3 8 0 1 0 0 3 3 .125

Swisher 3 11 1 1 0 0 2 4 .091

Teixeira 3 11 1 0 0 0 3 3 .000

TOTALS 3 53 3 6 0 0 9 18 .113

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