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Joe Girardi seemed to give some credit for Alex Rodriguez' two-HR game against Kansas City Wednesday night to some critical columns written about him Tuesday night's game, in which he struck out after Royals' manager Ned Yost intentionally walked Robby Cano to load the bases in front of him.

"A lot of times, when we talk about guys, they do well the next day'' Girardi said, good-naturedly. "Do you want to talk about some more guys?”

Asked if he thought the criticism motivated A-Rod, Girardi said, “I don’t know, because I don’t know how much he reads. But remember, before the columns were written, he said he felt really good.”

Asked if he would like a similar column written about Mark Teixeira, Girardi laughed, but (wisely) did not reply.

Afterwards in the clubhouse, I asked A-Rod if he had read any of the negative columns -- yes, I wrote one of them -- and he said he had not. But he got a good laugh when I told him how many of my Twitter followers weighed in practically before his first HR off Royals' starter Will Smith had landed.

"Really?,'' he said. "That's hilarious. I told you I felt like I was ready to come around.''

Why didn't I listen?

Overall, the Yankees are 23-21, so at best you can probably give the team a grade of C, maybe even a D. But let’s look at the individual marks and see who is carrying his end of the $200 million bargain -- and who is not.

Alex Rodriguez said Tuesday that he was about to "go off." On Wednesday, he broke his 52 at-bat homerless streak with not one, but two long balls.

"I said it because I meant it," Rodriguez said after he hit the two homers in his first two at-bats off lefty Will Smith, who was making his major league debut. "I said it because I've been working on some things. I said it with conviction, not because it was going to sound good here in my locker. It is good to back it up."

Rodriguez said he felt like he was getting good pitches to hit, but he wasn't in position to hit them.

"I thought today I was in position to take my 'A' swing," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez is now hitting .281 with seven homers and 18 RBIs. His seven homers are tied with Nick Swisher for second the team. Curtis Granderson, who also went yard, has 14.

"When you hit in the middle of the order, your team expects you to get big hits," Rodriguez said. "I was tired of making the news for taking third base on a fly ball or stealing a base. That's a big part of the game and I take a lot of pride in it, but I understand what my bread and butter is and that is to make big noise with my bat."

Before the Yankees defeated the Royals on Tuesday, Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi addressed the team. A-Rod also spoke up.

"I said, 'Let's go out and get these two and then let's go out to the west coast and play Yankee baseball,'" Rodriguez said. "This team has been together a long time. The one thing is don't underestimate this team. This is not our first rodeo. We understand what it takes to win."

One Yankee compared Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman's team meeting on Tuesday to the legendary one the duo had in June of 2009 in Atlanta that is credited by some with turning that championship season around.

The results of the 2012 get-together are still to be determined, but one Yankee told ESPN New York that the message was simple.

"A lot of people might blow the slow start out of perspective, but they wanted to keep it in perspective," the player said.

Even with the Yankees having lost six-of-seven, it was a matter-of-fact discussion, the player said. Girardi has said he isn't one to knock over tables, believing an even-keel is the best way to get the most out of his team.

The meeting, which was first reported by Jack Curry of YES, has now preceded two wins in a row. After the Yankees' 8-3 win over the Royals, Girardi declined to even acknowledge that he spoke to the team, saying that if he wanted the media know about it he would have PR head Jason Zillo send out invitations.

Meanwhile, fresh off his two-home run game, Alex Rodriguez saluted the talk without giving up too many details.

"Joe gave us a great talk," Rodriguez said. "He is a great manager. He has a lot of faith in us."

Facing Will Smith in his major league debut, the Yankees have shot out to a 3-0 lead after one. Alex Rodriguez has hit his first homer in 52 at-bats, a two-run shot. Before that, Curtis Granderson hit a solo homer.

A-Rod has been a popular subject these days.

Here is Wally's take from Wednesday's game.

Here is mine from Sunday.

Phil Hughes is now 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA over his last four starts. In Tuesday's 3-2 win, he showed off a change up to complement his fastball-curveball combination. He still would liked to have gone longer than just the six innings.

"I would have liked to go deeper into the game," Hughes said.

In his nine starts, Hughes has pitched into the eighth once and the seventh once. He has also given up a homer in each start, becoming the first Yankee ever to do that in his first nine starts of the season.

So Hughes is doing better, but he still has a long ways to go to not just be a No. 4 or 5 starter.

• Alex Rodriguez on the final out of the game in which he fired across the diamond to just nail the speedy Alcides Escobar:

"Woo," A-Rod said, sounding a little like Ric Flair. "Exciting play. Just a great play on everyone's end."

Mark Teixeira had the final stretch to record the out.

"I knew he was going to be hauling down the line," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez went on to credit Teixeira for making sure they just got Escobar.

Programming Note: Wallace Matthews is writing a column on Al B. Al.

• Teixeira, who is still batting seventh, had a nice night with the glove. In the eighth, he may have prevented a run when he caught Mike Moustakas' wicked liner and then stepped on the bag for an inning-ending double play.

"Tex has always been a Gold Glove first baseman," Joe Girardi said.

At the plate, Teixeira was 1-for-3. Batting seventh cost him an extra plate appearance.

• The Yankees' pen combined for three scoreless innings. Girardi used five relievers, culminating with Rafael Soriano. Soriano allowed a runner to get to third before A-Rod and Teixiera's game-ending play. Soriano is 3-for-3 in save opportunities.

"We still believe we have the pieces," Girardi said of his pen.

Soriano made his 400th career appearance. To celebrate, he didn't talk to the media. Maybe he was listening to some Neil Diamond.

• Robinson Cano likes to face Luke Hochevar. He has three homers in 12 career at-bats against him. Cano went deep in the fourth.

• Since the Yankees still can't really hit very well, their games are much shorter. This one was only 2:37. The attendance was announced at 37,674.

Hiroki Kuroda Stats To Watch For
Kuroda's roller-coaster ride through the American League continues on Monday night as he faces the Royals for the second time this season. He failed to make it out of the fifth inning in his previous start against them on May 5, allowing three runs on six hits.

Kuroda really struggled pitching from the stretch in that game, as the Royals went 4-for-11 and walked three times with runners on base. Kuroda has allowed an OPS of .823 with men on base this season, nearly 200 points higher than the .649 mark he gave up in those situations in 2011.

Kuroda has had trouble with the long ball recently, having allowed five home runs over his last two starts. It's just the second time in his career he's given up multiple homers in consecutive starts; he's never done that three starts in a row.

Over the last two seasons, 12 of the 33 home runs allowed by Kuroda have come in at-bats ending in his slider (four this year, 12 last year). In 2009 and 2010 combined, only three of the 27 homers he gave up came against his slider.

Felipe Paulino Stats To Watch For
This will be the second time Paulino has faced the Yankees this season, after he pitched six scoreless innings on May 5 in the Royals' 5-1 win. Paulino silenced the Yankees' bats that day, not allowing a hard-hit ball in play to any of the 23 Yankees he faced.

Paulino also got help from his defense, as each of the eight groundballs he generated were converted into outs. However, since then he's given up six hits on 13 grounders over his last two starts.

Curtis Granderson has seen Paulino the most of any Yankee, with nine career plate appearances versus the Dominican righty. He's really struggled in those matchups, though, netting just one hit with four strikeouts.

A-Rod's Power Outage Watch
Alex Rodriguez is mired in a 44 at-bat homerless drought, with his last home run coming on May 6 against the Royals. Just two of his 12 hits since then have been for extra bases, and he has driven in just one run over those 12 games.

He has hit the ball hard recently, though, with 16 balls in play classified as "well-hit" over those 44 at-bats (roughly one every three at-bats). In his first 104 at-bats of the season, he had 19 hard-hit balls, for a rate of one every five at-bats.

He had four hard-hit balls in four at-bats on Sunday afternoon, matching his most in any game since 2009. He also had that many on Aug. 14, 2010, when he hit the 602nd, 603rd and 604th homers of his career in a game against Kansas City.

Left fielder Brett Gardner is going to see the doctor on Sunday and hopes to receive clearance to start swinging soon. Gardner has been on the disabled list retroactive to April 18 with a right elbow strain and has missed 29 games.

"I've been resting it and doing all the rehab and all the treatment they want me to do and everything else is really good," Gardner said after the Yankees' 6-5 to the Cincinnati Reds. "As soon as that elbow gets right, I start hitting and I should be a couple days away."

Gardner had been scheduled to return earlier this month, but then he aggravated the elbow again. He believes he tried to return too early. The left fielder is now hoping that he will be able to return at the end of next week. The Yankees start a nine-game road trip on Friday.

"That'd be great," Gardner said. "If I could start swinging here in the next couple of days, I'll be ready by next weekend for sure."

CHAPMAN IMPRESSES: The Yankees got their first look at Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman and he was as good as advertised, striking out two in a scoreless inning.

"The kid's got a great arm, no doubt about it," manager Joe Girardi said.

Chapman handled the Yankees' top bats, striking out lefties Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano before retiring Alex Rodriguez on a pop to short. Chapman has not given up an earned run in 21 1/3 innings to start the season.

"You don't see lefties that throw 100 miles per hour," Rodriguez said. "He gave me a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it and just hit it straight up. Pretty electric."

OTHER NOTES: The Yankees are now 20-5 when they score at least four runs. ... They still own the best interleague winning percentage at .594. ... The 15 strikeouts by the pitching staff matched a season high. ... They have committed an error in four straight games. ... Two of Russell Martin's five hits at Yankee Stadium are homers.

Alex Rodriguez has some catching up to do.

The third baseman said after Saturday's 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds that he is extremely confident he's going to produce the numbers he expects to by the end of this season.

Unless Rodriguez is aiming low this year, he's going to have to produce better than he has during the team's first 40 games. He has just five home runs and 15 RBIs, with less than 25 percent of his hits going for extra bases.

"I'm in a good place, my body feels good," Rodriguez said after an 0-for-4 day. "Working very hard with [hitting coach] Kevin Long every day. My numbers are going to be there at the end of the day and there's no question about it.

"The thing is we have put it to work right away because the team needs victories. Our offense, our coaches, our players, they expect a lot of from me and I'll be there."

While Rodriguez has been able to hit for average and get on base, the power he once flashed in pinstripes is at an all-time low. He has not homered in his last 40 at-bats, and is slugging just .410. That would be his lowest slugging percentage since 1995.

In his second at-bat on Saturday, Rodriguez nearly swatted his sixth home run, but his deep drive to right-center was tracked down in front of the 385-foot sign. The third baseman heard boos after making outs during the day.

"I hit that pretty well. I thought it was perhaps a home run," Rodriguez said. "You have to worry about the process. Had a good swing there, had a good swing against [Aroldis] Chapman (in the eighth) and nothing to show for it. I'll come back tomorrow ready to swing again."

Rodriguez said he trusts in the process that's been established by Long, and feels fine physically. He hasn't played 140 games since 2007, but has played in 39 of the team's first 40 games. His teammates don't seem concerned about him.

"We know he's one of our big boppers, there's no doubt about it," right fielder Nick Swisher said. "His BP's been great. That guy is a machine, he works his tail off and like they say, the harder you work the luckier it is."

Unless Rodriguez heats up, he's on pace for what would be his worst season in which he plays a majority of the team's games. His current numbers would project for 20 home run and 61 RBIs. In last year's injury-shortened year, he managed to drive in 62 runs.

"I think we're in a good place right now," Rodriguez said. "I think one of the things I'm working on is to improve the ratio of ground balls to fly balls. Been putting the ball on the ground just a little too much. Past two or three days I've been much better so I'm very encouraged."

The one hit that could have changed it all never came.

The Yankees once again came up small in the biggest moments of a game on Saturday, failing with runners in scoring position repeatedly in their 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

In the ninth inning, with the potential tying and winning runs on base, the Yanks couldn't deliver the big hit on two occasions, as they fell for the fourth time in five games. All told they were 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the game.

"We just didn't get the last hit we needed to put them away," manager Joe Girardi said. "It's good we're able to come back but it's frustrating you get so close and you lose."

In their last 55 at-bats with runners in scoring position, the Yankees have just five hits. The team did manage to snap a 0-for-22 slump with a pair of knocks in the ninth inning, but it couldn't deliver the one extra hit to complete the three-run rally.

The Yankees had been just 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position before Nick Swisher and Jayson Nix each drove in a run to slice Cincinnati's lead to 6-5. With men on first and second with one out, Derek Jeter grounded into a fielder's choice, and Curtis Granderson ended the game with a grounder to first with men on second and third.

The Yankees are batting .231 with runners in scoring position on the season, which ranks them among the bottom-third of the American League.

"Any time there are guys in scoring positions you want to get the job done. Really don't think about numbers when you're up there hitting. Trying to get a good pitch," catcher Russell Martin said. "As of late, we just haven't been getting the job done but it just takes one day for that to change. We have great hitters on this team throughout the lineup so I don't think it's going to stay this way for too much longer."

Girardi mentioned that it's easy for his team to start pressing with the lack of results in these situations. Being asked about it constantly is a daily reminder, and once the game comes, there have not been the results to make the frustrations disappear.

Third baseman Alex Rodriguez said he thought the team did better on Saturday, and wants the offense to start focusing on scoring at least four runs a game. He stressed staying focused and having quality at-bats.

"I think everyone just tries to pick everybody up," Rodriguez said. "I'm very proud of the way guys went out today and swung the bats and we had a strong finish there in the eighth and ninth. Overall, hitting is contagious and guys are probably putting a little bit of pressure on."

Alex Rodriguez has just one home run in his last 80 at-bats.

That's not exactly the definition of a power hitter.

Joe Girardi addressed Rodriguez's power outage before Saturday's game.

"He's not driving the baseball as consistently as we've seen him do in the past," Girardi said. "But as I've said, home runs become very streaky and all of a sudden you put up eight in a month and you're right where you should be at. And I think he's capable of doing that."

On the season, A-Rod has five homers and four doubles in 140 at-bats.

ROBERTSON UPDATE: David Robertson (strained left oblique) still hasn't picked up a baseball since the Yankees put him on the disabled list on Tuesday. Girardi said that, as of Thursday, Robertson was still feeling discomfort in his side and he will be re-evaluated at some point in the next few days.... Brett Gardner (right elbow strain) will be evaluated after Saturday's game.

AN EYE ON NOVA: Girardi said he will keep a close eye on Ivan Nova, who is starting Saturday after suffering a sprain of his right food and ankle in his last start.

Girardi said he'll check with pitching coach Larry Rothschild to see if Nova favored his left side during warmups and will watch throughout the game to see if "it's a problem."

If Nova struggles, Freddy Garcia and David Phelps are available.

Andy Pettitte tossed eight shutout innings Friday night, yet he was lucky to pick up a win.

That's because while he was posting zero after zero on the scoreboard, his teammates were doing the exact same thing -- with one exception, a single run pushed across in the bottom of the fourth, when Curtis Granderson scored on a groundout by Alex Rodriguez.

Only after Pettitte had thrown his 115th and final pitch of the night -- an 85 mph fastball that Drew Stubbs grounded to Rodriguez to end the top of the eighth -- did the Yankees put some distance between themselves and the Cincinnati Reds, thanks to a solo homer by Robinson Cano and a two-run shot by Raul Ibanez against a tiring Bronson Arroyo.

Those three insurance runs put the Yankees' bullpen at ease -- instead of bringing closer Rafael Soriano into a one-run game, manager Joe Girardi called upon Boone Logan to mop up a 4-0 victory. But they did nothing to make Pettitte's 24 outs any easier, forcing the 39-year-old to pitch with literally no margin for error.

Pettitte said as much after the game. "You knew that we were struggling, and you knew that we've been struggling," Pettitte said.

Everybody who follows baseball knows it; it's been impossible to ignore. The Yankees entered this game losers of three in a row, dropping them to 20-18 -- in fourth place in the American League East. In those three games, the Yanks' high-powered -- and high-priced -- offense had mustered a grand total of four runs on 13 hits.

The Yankees entered Friday night 3-for-their-last-41 with runners in scoring position. And it only got worse once this game got under way.

In the bottom of the second inning, A-Rod got the ball rolling by smacking a line-drive double. But the next three hitters -- Ibanez, Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez -- failed to nudge him past second base.

The sixth inning was even more painful to watch. The Yankees loaded the bases with no outs, thanks to a Derek Jeter single, a Granderson single and a walk to Cano. But a pair of ground balls, followed by a pop-up, kept the score at 1-0 heading into the seventh.

To be fair, the Yanks should have scored a run on the first grounder -- Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan's foot was clearly an inch or two shy of the plate on the force-out at home. Nevertheless, there were no clutch hits to be found in the frame.

"Some of it’s luck," Girardi said. "The skill part is being able to relax and not go out of who you are. The luck part is hitting it hard and not hitting it at someone."

The Yankees have been neither lucky nor good at the plate in recent days. There are plenty of culprits. The only one you can't blame this time around is Mark Teixeira, who was given Friday night off.

"We gotta understand, this is the game of baseball," Cano said. "Nobody wants to go 0-for-4 or hit a ground ball into a double play with the bases loaded. ... Just keep your head up, forget about that at-bat and go to the next one. If you see men on base, just be positive all the time."

"It’s part of the game," said Ibanez. "Unfortunately it’s just what’s happening right now. We’ve gotta deal with it and make it better. We’re gonna keep working hard to make it better, and I’m sure things will change."

Things need to change in a hurry. The Yankees might not have to deal with a vintage Red Sox team this season. But the Orioles, Rays and Blue Jays look like stiff competition right now, to say nothing about the rest of the AL.

They're called the Bronx Bombers for a reason, aren't they? This team is certainly not built on pitching. After CC Sabathia, there's no guarantees in the rotation -- not even Pettitte, despite his gem Friday night. And the Yanks' top two relievers are on the shelf, one for the entire season.

When asked about the insurance runs in the eighth inning, Girardi said, "You hope that kinda sets the tone for the homestand in a sense, that we get going offensively. We’ll find out tomorrow."

The home runs were nice, no doubt about that.

But a hit with a runner on second or third Saturday? That would be even nicer.

Joe Girardi has been very deliberate in giving veterans Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez days as the designated hitter this season in hope of keeping them healthy for the long haul.

"What I worry about is when they are fatigued they are going to pull something. That's my concern. I've been more proactive with Alex than I have with Derek in a sense," Girardi said. "I'm trying to be proactive. We're in a stretch of 16 games here and I'm going to have to pick a couple of spots for each of them.'

Rodriguez and Jeter have each played in all of the team's games entering Saturday. Including Saturday, Rodriguez has been the team's designated hitter 10 times and pinch-hit in the ninth inning once. Jeter, the designated hitter Saturday, has had the day off in the field six times this season. Combined, the pair have been the designated hitter in 16 of 33 games.

The manager said the pitching matchup helps him determine when his hitters need a day off. His plan is working so far as Jeter is hitting a team-high .372 with five homers and 15 RBIs and Rodriguez is up to .297 with five homers and 14 RBIs.

"I have to pick my spots to rest Derek as well. This is a guy that has played in every game, you think about it, people are talking about 140-145 games, we've been fortunate to play him in every game so far and he's been productive," Girardi said. "This is one way of doing it, a day game after a night game. I have to pick my spots."

The Yankees may not see a pitcher on a better roll this season than Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, who faces them on Friday.

David Price entered Yankee Stadium on Thursday with a 4-0 mark and 1.55 ERA in his previous four starts, and the Yankees were able to score five runs against him.

They’ll be challenged to do that well against Hernandez, who has an 0.95 ERA and .169 opponents batting average in his last five starts. He allowed one hit in eight innings in his last start against the Twins.

What is Hernandez doing so well?
Hernandez is getting left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters out at a high rate. Lefties are hitting .184 in this stretch against him. Righties are hitting .140.

Hernandez’s fastball ranges from 90 to 94 miles-per-hour and he’s actually lost a mile or two per hour off it, but he keeps it away from hitters’ comfort zones.

Hernandez throws fastballs to the outside part of the plate 62 percent of the time, the second-highest rate in baseball for a starting pitcher. Only 16 percent of his fastballs (about one of every six) are over the middle-third, width-wise, the second lowest rate in the majors.

That limits damage, but it’s his secondary pitch that makes him great.

Hernandez will throw his changeup to both left and right-handed hitters, and though the separation between it and the fastball isn’t great (three to five miles-per-hour), it makes hitters look foolish.

In his last five starts, Hernandez has gotten 35 outs with the changeup and yielded just two hits.

If there’s hope for the Yankees, it’s that the only other right-handed pitcher with more strikeouts against both righties and lefties since 2011 is James Shields, whom the Yankees beat earlier this week.

Who has the best shot at hitting Hernandez?
Two Yankees in particular hit Hernandez well last season-- Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira.

Cano was 5-for-9 against Hernandez last season after going 1-for-9 against him in 2010. Teixeira was 3-for-6 with two home runs and four walks last season.

Teixeira’s five home runs are the most of anyone against Hernandez. Nick Swisher is second with four.

One decision for the binder could be whether to start Jayson Nix, who went 3-for-3 with three line drive hits in his start against Hernandez last season.

In terms of those who succeed against Hernandez’s best pitches, Yankeemetrician blogleague Katie Sharp notes a pair-- Alex Rodriguez has six hits, including a homer, against changeups this season, and Russell Martin has any many hits against fastballs on the outer-third (six) as he has against all other fastballs he’s seen this season.

King Felix Stat of the Day
Hernandez has made three straight starts at Yankee Stadium in which he’s allowed one run or fewer. The last pitcher with a streak of that many starts allowing that few runs on the road against the Yankees was Joe Coleman, who had four in a row from 1971 to 1973.

In those three starts, Hernandez has allowed a total of one run and 11 hits in 24 innings.

The Yankees are 2-for-43 in two-strike situations against him in those three games.

If Robinson Cano ends up with typical Robinson Cano-like numbers at the end of this season, you might point back to Thursday night's game as one of the most important.

Cano went 3-for-4 against one of the best left-handed pitchers in the baseball, David Price, in a 5-3 Yankees victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The biggest hit of the game was Cano's two-run homer into the right-field bleachers in the fifth, part of a three-run inning that broke open a 2-2 tie. Cano also had singles in the first and third innings, in only his second three-hit game of the season.

"It just really changes our lineup, because he’s so productive, and he’s dangerous any time he walks to the plate," said manager Joe Girardi of Cano. "We swung the bats extremely well against a very good pitcher tonight, and Robby was a big part of that."

Cano wasn't very dangerous in April, when he batted just .267, with one home run and four RBIs. But he's been heating up in May, and now has hit safely in eight consecutive games.

The batting average is up to .286, with three homers and 11 RBIs, and we're only a third of the way through the month.

Cano was also just 7-for-34 (.206) in his career against Price, who entered the game red-hot, 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA.

"I’ve really been feeling good all season," said Cano. "Earlier in the season, it’s all about luck, just hitting the ball right at people. Tonight was a good night."

The second baseman wasn't the only one who had a good night on Thursday. Alex Rodriguez had a pair of hits, and Curtis Granderson launched his 11th home run of the season -- a solo shot into the second deck in right in the second inning.

"I think it’s just a matter of time before we as a team get things rolling, and hopefully get on a hot streak, which we haven’t yet," said Granderson. "We haven’t been playing as well as we’d like, but we’re still right where want to be."