Hard to win a postseason series when you score 2.7 runs per game and allow your opponent 6.7 runs per game

For as rough as the pitching has been for the Yankees (non-Andy Pettitte division) in the 2010 ALCS, outside of the eighth inning of Game 1 the team offense has been an even bigger issue.

While a dominating start from Cliff Lee has at this point become a fait accompli, the team that led all of MLB in wOBA has to perform better than it has thus far. After watching these past three games they almost look historically, legendarily bad at the plate. Shades of the 2001 World Series, in which they "hit" a pathetic .183/.240/.288 over seven games, are beginning to creep over the proceedings.


Here are the team's numbers for the ALCS through three games:

	AVG	OBP	SLG
Derek Jeter	.231	.286	.385
Nick Swisher	.091	.231	.182
Mark Teixeira	.000	.214	.000
Alex Rodriguez	.154	.154	.154
Robinson Cano	.417	.417	1.000
Jorge Posada	.200	.273	.200
Marcus Thames	.222	.222	.222
Lance Berkman	.333	.500	.333
Curtis Granderson	.125	.417	.125
Brett Gardner	.250	.333	.250

I know we're dealing with the smallest of small sample sizes, but these numbers are still simply putrid. The Yankees aren't going to be doing much of anything hitting a collective .194/.288/.296 (the Rangers, on the other hand, are hitting a mighty .291/.371/.476). Seven of the ten Yankee hitters have identical BAs and SLGs. That is unacceptable for a team that plans to contend for a World Series. Mark Teixeira is "hitting" .000/.214/.000. I didn't think he could possibly perform worse than he did last postseason, but apparently "October" is Teixeiran for "April." Nick Swisher's also been nonexistent, leaving Cano to pick up the slack. When Derek Jeter has the second-highest SLG in your lineup, that's a significant problem.

You can make the argument all day that the Yankees have faced great pitchers thus far in the ALCS, and while that's true, that line of reasoning rings a bit hollow. While I wouldn't expect the team to go out and necessarily thrash the likes of C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis, the Rangers managed to figure CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes out pretty easily, and it's not as if the Yankees have been sending Scott Kamieniecki and Eric Plunk to the mound.

As it stands, the Yankees are lucky to only be down 2-1 in this ALCS and not 3-0, and they know it. They've been completely outplayed and pretty much outright dominated through these first three games. The Yankees are trailing in an ALCS for the first time since 1998. They're also down in a playoff series for only the second time under Joe Girardi -- the only other time of course also coming at the hands of Cliff Lee after Game 1 of the 2009 World Series. For the second year in a row, the Yankees look to A.J. Burnett to get the team back on track, pick up a big win and even a series up after a loss to Lee.

What we've seen from the Yankees is not the team we know they are. They are not a .194/.288/.296 team that gives up 6.7 runs per game. They are way, way better than that. The bats will wake up tonight -- they can't possibly hit any worse -- and the Yankees need to hang a crooked number on this Texas team and show they're still very much in this. Scoring first in a playoff game for only the second time this postseason would go a long way in building some of that confidence back up.