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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.

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."

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.

Chris Stewart will again be behind the plate with CC Sabathia on the mound Thursday night.

It's the fifth consecutive time that the Yankees' ace has been paired with the team's backup catcher -- but manager Joe Girardi insists that Stewart is not Sabathia's "personal catcher."

"It’s just worked out (that way)," Girardi said before Thursday's game against the Rays. "A lot of the starts that I’ve chose to play Chris have been with CC, and have been against left-handers, because if you look at Chris’ track record, the success has been more against left-handers."

Lefty David Price starts for Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Still, there's no denying that the Sabathia-Stewart combination has been a very successful one. Sabathia has own each of his past four starts, going at least 7 1/3 innings each time, including eight innings in each of the past three outings.

In his first two starts of the season, Sabathia went six innings each time, giving up a combined nine runs.

"Russell (Wilson) is our No. 1 catcher," Girardi said. "If the playoffs were today, I’d probably send Russell in there with CC. ... I believe Russell’s gonna do a good job with him as well."

Recap | Box score | Photos

What it means: That the Yankees have now lost four of their last six to the Baltimore Orioles, who probably are not as good as their record, and the Kansas City Royals, who might be. Crisis time?

Termites in the bat rack?: Once again, little pop in the lineup as the Yankees are held hitless for 4 1/3 and manage just one run off the lowly Royals, who with tonight's 5-1 victory have taken two of the first three games of this series. Only Curtis Granderson (two doubles) and Russell Martin (home run, double) have anything to be proud of tonight.

Show me the way to go home: That could have been Granderson's walk-up music. Doubled twice, stranded twice. Once was his own fault (see below). The other? Blame Alex Rodriguez (groundout), Robinson Cano (groundout) and Mark Teixeira (strikeout), who wasted Grandy's leadoff double in the eighth.

Unlucky seven: Yanks stranded seven, went 0-for-7 w/RISP. Derek Jeter (0-for-4) was the chief culprit, grounding out with the bases loaded to end the fifth, and again to end the seventh with a runner on second.

Anti-Hiro: After throwing a gem at the Orioles in his last start, Hiroki Kuroda didn't have it tonight. With the help of an error by Jeter on the first play of the game, Kuroda allowed two first-inning runs and couldn't make it out of the fifth, allowing another run and leaving runners on first and third with one out for the bullpen to clean up, which Clay Rapada and Cody Eppley did. Kuroda's line: 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 2 K's.

Perfect Paulino: Felipe Paulino, who was just activated for this game after having missed the first 25 games of the season with a forearm strain, retired the first 11 Yankees he faced, six on strikeouts and five on infield grounders, before walking Alex Rodriguez. Paulino -- whose career record coming in was 10-31 with a 5.28 ERA -- pitched six shutout innings, allowed four hits and struck out six.

The Butler did it: Royals DH Billy Butler doubled in two runs in the first and singled in another in the fifth, all off Kuroda, a pitcher he had never faced before.

Grand Illusion: For some inexplicable reason, Granderson chose to advance to third on A-Rod's fly ball to right in the sixth, even though there were none out and Cano and Teixeira waiting to bat. Jeff Francoeur made the catch in medium right and easily gunned Grandy down at third, changing what could have been a big inning into a two-out, bases-empty flop. When Cano followed with a single, which would have scored Granderson, the gaffe only became more obvious.

French fried: Francoeur not only made the double play, he ended the sixth inning with a sliding catch on Teixeira's sinking liner to right, stranding Cano at first.

Russell on the muscle: The Yankees were off the board until Martin ripped one to the back row of the bleachers above the Royals bullpen in left, estimated at 426 feet, off reliever Jose Mijares with one out in the seventh.

What's coming: Assorted blog items from the postgame clubhouse, which is sure to empty quickly since many of the players had plans to watch the Mayweather-Cotto fight.

Tomorrow: The task of salvaging a split in the series falls upon Phil Hughes (1-4, 7.48), who has not been good and may be pitching for his spot in the rotation as Andy Pettitte's return draws nearer. Hughes draws RHP Luke Hochevar
(2-2, 7.36) in the series finale, first pitch at 2:10 p.m.

Russell hasn't had much muscle this season.

But the Yankees' catcher hit his second homer of the year to give the team a 4-3 lead over the Tigers in the fifth.

Martin came into Friday night's game hitting a paltry .182 with a homer and four RBIs.

Maybe this shot off Justin Verlander is exactly what he needed to get it going offensively.

Forgetting a basic baseball fundamental led to Eduardo Nunez's first-inning error on Thursday.

On a hard-hit ball to his right, Nunez fielded the ball cleanly and had plenty of time to throw to first, but instead fired wide and dragged Mark Teixeira off the base, resulting in an error. The Twins went on to score four runs in the inning, and Nunez slammed his glove in frustration over his second error of the season when he returned to the dugout.

"I look at that. You want to call it mental, you want to call it physical, the bottom line is he didn't move his feet, that's why he made the error," manager Joe Girardi said. "Talked to him about moving his feet, he threw every ball chest-high after that."

While this is only Nunez's second error, both have cost the Yankees runs in the first inning. His first error came on April 7 against Tampa Bay, and resulted in the Rays taking an early lead against the Yankees in Hiroki Kuroda's's debut. Nunez did have a successful night at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a run scored, a walk and a stolen base.

Girardi did not seem concerned about Nunez, who had 20 errors last season.

"Every time he moves around, it's a different throw for him, and he's a young kid. He's not a guy that's been at this for 10 years and is a utility guy. This is a guy who was an everyday shortstop, asked to be a utility guy, and playing an important role for us," Girardi said. "It's the concentration of remembering to move your feet and remembering where you are and what type of throw you have to make. I really believe he'll continue to get better at it. Last year, we saw some errors early on and then he kind of settled down when he played more. It was his first day at second base. After that, he was pretty good."

TEX ON THE BOARD: Mark Teixeira snapped a 45 at-bat home run drought with a first-inning two-run homer to right field. Teixeira now has five RBIs on the year, and has raised his average to .286 after a slow start.

"I've seen him swing the bat and swing it well," Girardi said. "Maybe the day off helped him (on Tuesday). He was kind of run down. He was fighting it and Tex is a guy that expects himself to play every day and is very professional about it and there's no excuses -- unless he can't walk, he's going to try to play. I think he just got his energy back and that's what we're seeing."

MARTIN SCUFFLING: After going 0-for-3 on Thursday, catcher Russell Martin is batting .133 with just four hits in 30 at-bats and one RBI. He also has no extra-base hits, although he owns a .395 on-base percentage. The manager believes the catcher will get on track.

"We had to make a little adjustment, mechanically he was a little off, it might take him a few days to get going but I think you'll see Russell get going," Girardi said. "I think his swing has been better. I know the production hasn't been there but he'll get going."

Garcia Matchups to Watch
Joe Mauer is 13-for-31 against Freddy Garcia with five doubles and two home runs. The home runs came in Mauer’s first at-bat against Garcia (June 30, 2004) and his most recent at-bat against Garcia (Aug. 10, 2010).

Garcia has only struck out Mauer once in the 35 times they’ve gone head-to-head (he’s walked him four times).

Mauer has found the new Yankee Stadium to be a comfortable place to hit. He has three home runs in 10 games there. He has two home runs in 118 games in his home ballpark, Target Field.

Pavano Matchups to Watch
Curtis Granderson is 8-for-24 against Carl Pavano (including the postseason), and though he doesn’t have any home runs against Pavano yet, he might be knocking at the door.

Of the 17 times Granderson has hit the ball against Pavano, he’s hit the ball in the air 14 times, resulting in six singles and one double.

That’s aberrational for Pavano, who typically gets ground balls on about half the balls hit against him.

The Yankees will want to be ready early in the count against Pavano. His first-pitch strike rate is 66 percent this season, same as it was last season, which ranked among the best in baseball.

Domination
The Yankees are 63-20 against the Twins (including the postseason) since Ron Gardenhire took over as Twins manager in 2002. Gardenhire is 854-720 (.543 winning percentage) against every other team in that span.

The Yankees have outscored the Twins 451-297 in those games, meaning they’ve outscored the Twins by an average of nearly two runs per game.

The player who has created the most stress for Gardenhire, at least recently, is Mark Teixeira, who is hitting .371 with 10 home runs and 28 RBIs in 27 regular-season/playoff games in the Yankees-Twins rivalry.

Jeter Watch
Derek Jeter is a .324 career hitter in regular-season games against the Twins. He’s hit .300 or better against them in each of the past six seasons, and is hitting .341 with nine home runs in 73 games (combining regular season and playoffs) against Gardenhire-managed teams.

Quirky Stat of the Day
Yankees catcher Russell Martin is hitting just .182, but leads the Yankees with a .455 on-base percentage. Martin has nine walks, including two in Sunday night’s win.

Martin has only swung at 27 percent of pitches thrown to him, the second-lowest rate in the majors behind Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis (24 percent). Martin’s swing rate over the past three seasons was 41 percent.

Matchup to Watch vs David Price Nick Swisher is 10-for-22 with seven walks vs the Rays lefty , including 5-for-8 against Price last season, having reached base in each of his last four plate appearances.

Swisher has seen an average of 4.4 pitches per plate appearance against Price, which falls right in line with his ability to work counts.

When Swisher makes the decision to swing early in the at-bat, he’s effective. He’s 5-for-5 in the last two seasons against Price in the first two pitches of an at-bat.

This will also be the first meeting between Price and Mark Teixeria since Teixeria hit two home runs against Price in the final game of the regular season.

Prior to that, Teixeira was just 7-for-32 against Price, but that was likely due to being well defended. He’s only fanned against Price once.

Price does do a good job against the Yankees lefties. Robinson Cano is homerless in 31 at-bats against him. Cano, Curtis Granderson, and Brett Gardner are a combined 15-for-72 (.208) vs Price.

With a lefty going, Joe Girardi could work Andruw Jones into the lineup, but keep in mind that Jones was just 1-for-11 vs Price last season.

Matchups to Watch vs Hiroki Kuroda
Kuroda will be facing the Rays and pitching at Tropicana Field for the first time in his career.

He’ll likely face a lefty-loaded lineup, which makes sense given that lefties slugged .451 (nearly 40 points above league average) with 12 home runs against Kuroda last season.

Kuroda is a little bit prone to the wild pitch. He ranked second in the NL with 12 last season. But he’ll be working with a familiar backstop in Russell Martin, who caught him in 60 different games during their time as Dodgers teammates.

Kuroda’s career ERA with Martin was 3.76. With other catchers, it is 3.13.

The Granderson Shift
My Stats & Information colleague Will Cohen did a few lookups related to the Rays shifting their infield defense against s Granderson, which paid off twice on Thursday. Twice, Granderson grounded out on balls into the shift, including once into a double play.

Will noted via Baseball Info Solutions' defensive data that the Rays led the majors in shifts last season with 216, 46 more than the team with the next-most, the Brewers.

Their decision to do so was likely based on this piece of information –- 83 percent of Granderson’s grounders last season were hit between first base and second base. Granderson totaled only three groundouts to third base in 2011.

Jeter Watch
This may sound a bit geeky, but Derek Jeter has a very good history when playing in the Yankees second game of the season. In 14 “Game 2s” Jeter is a .393 hitter (22-for-56) with 15 runs scored. In his last five “Game 2s,” Jeter has four multi-hit games.

Another chance for Mo
Only once in his time as a full-time reliever (since 1996) has Mariano Rivera allowed a run in his first two appearances of the season. That came in 2005, with both games against the Red Sox.

The Not-So-Dreaded 0-2 Start
Fear not: If the Yankees lose, it would be their third 0-2 start since 1986. The other two were in seasons that ended with World Series titles -- 1998 and 2009.

The Yankees will take on the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday afternoon in Port Charlotte, which is about 90 minutes from Tampa.

It's a long bus ride, but a few veterans will be making the trip, according to the travel squad list posted on Tuesday: Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Russell Martin, and Raul Ibanez.

Also, Phil Hughes will make the start for the Yankees.

Here are the lineups for tonight's Grapefruit League game between the Yankees and Pirates at Steinbrenner Field.

The big news is that Derek Jeter (calf) isn't playing, and will be out until Friday -- don't worry too much -- but Russell Martin (hamstring), Nick Swisher (groin) and Robinson Cano (hand) are all back in there.

First pitch is at 7:05 p.m., and you can watch the game on YES.

YANKEES

Curtis Granderson CF
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Andruw Jones DH
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez SS
Brett Gardner LF

Michael Pineda P

PIRATES

Alex Presley LF
Jose Tabata RF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Neil Walker 2B
Garrett Jones 1B
Rod Barajas C
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Clint Barmes SS
Erik Bedard P

... imagine what he's going to feel like now.

For the past two days, David Robertson has expressed his embarrassment at having been injured in a fall down some steps in his home Wednesday night.

"I don’t even want to come talk to you guys about it,'' he said in the clubhouse Friday morning. "I'd rather tell you I tripped over a chair in the clubhouse than tell you I fell down the stairs in my house. Not like full flight of stairs, either, just one stair.''

In fact, he even celebrated, jokingly, when told that the Rays' David Price had outdone him for embarrassing injuries by giving himself neck spasms by rubbing his head too vigorously with a towel. "Yes!'' Robertson had exulted, pumping a fist. "That's the best news I've heard all day.''

But now, having undergone four sophisticated diagnostic tests, wearing a walking boot and stumbling around on crutches for two days only to learn he has nothing more than a bone bruise, Robertson is likely to hear plenty more from his teammates.

In fact, it already started after Friday's game when Russell Martin, having been informed of Robertson's injury, shook his head incredulously. "How the heck does a guy get a bruise on his foot falling down the stairs?'' he said.

More to come along those lines, I'm sure.

Not that Montero, if you are thinking we are talking about Jesus.

No, Miguel Montero and the Diamondbacks broke off contract talks in a more formal way than Brian Cashman and Russell Martin did last week. Cashman and Martin's agent, Matt Colleran, just told a a couple of reporters who inquired, while the D-backs held a press conference.

Anyway, what does this mean for the Yankees? Well, like Martin, Montero is a free agent-to-be, who says he wants to remain with his current team. Montero is an excellent defender. His WAR, according to FanGraph's last year, was 4.4 compared to Martin's 3.0. Montero's slash line was .282/.351/.469. Montero is six months younger than Martin.

As we have written about this subject, a lot of people have pointed to the Yankees young catchers as replacements for Martin. It is possible.

But here is the deal with entrusting a $200M payroll to the firm of Cervelli & Romine. Francisco Cervelli hasn't proven he can stay healthy and, although, he is a fan favorite it is unknown if he could play every day at a high level. Austin Romine, 23, had back issues last year and has them this spring, which is troubling. Let's say that is not concern, there is still the question of if he would be ready to be the main man next year. Defensively, it looks like he would. Offensively, it is another story. Romine has yet to complete a full year in Triple-A.

That's the dilemma that the Yankees are facing with collides with their desire to be under $189M by 2014 and the fact Yadier Molina is about to sign a five-year, $75M deal.

So maybe, after all, Montero could be the Yankees' catcher of the future -- that's Miguel, not Jesus.

But what is becoming abundantly clear that if Martin and Montero were to have excellent seasons, they should be able to command deals that are at least three years and probably in the $30-50M range. Perhaps even more.

The fact that Yadier Molina is about to sign a five-year deal for $70-$75 million deal is not good news for the Yankees. With the Yankees and Russell Martin having tabled talks until the offseason, the Yankees now know where the bar is and an alternative is off-the-board.

Martin, 29, is not Molina, but a case can be made he is not far off. The Yankees think very highly of his defense and his toughness with Yankees GM Brian Cashman going as far as comparing Martin to Thurman Munson. His offense is not that different than Molina's as last season Martin went .237/.324/.408, while Molina, in his best offensive season, had a .305/.349/.465 slash.

Last year, FanGraphs had Molina's WAR (Wins above Replacement) at 4.0, while Martin's stood at 3.1. So we all know Molina should be valued a little bit higher. But this new deal will likely cost the Yankees money or Martin entirely.

The Yankees, according to CBS' Heyman, were willing to go to three years and $20 million. The contract the Yankees had in mind would have been for this year and then the following two seasons. So it was essentially a two-year extension. The two sides were so far apart that Martin's agent, Matt Colleran, and Cashman spoke Friday and decided to table any further negotiations.

Now, though, the Yankees, it would seem, would have to go at least three years, taking his deal through, at minimum, 2015. The money would have to be at $8-to-$10 million, at least -- probably more with another strong year from Martin.

Molina is on the verge of signing the third largest contract for a catcher ever. Joe Mauer got $184 million recently, while Mike Piazza picked up $91 million from Mets before they went broke. Martin won't be in that neighborhood, but his deal, with a good season, has to start with at least a three in at as in $30 million or maybe a four or a five.

So when Molina signs, Martin moves up a notch with Arizona's Miguel Montero and Texas' Mike Napoli as the top catchers on the market. The Yankees have the self-imposed pressure of the $189M 2014 luxury tax limbo, which combined with Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson due big contracts soon could make for some tough decisions.

The one on Martin just got tougher.

Question: A year from now, do you think Russell Martin, Francisco Cervelli, Austin Romine or someone else is the Yankees starting catcher?

With the sides too far apart, the agent for Russell Martin, Matt Colleran and Yankees GM Brian Cashman spoke on Friday and decided to table talks until after the season.

Cashman said the two sides "mutually agreed to wait," after Colleran called on Friday.

"It was a good conversation," Colleran said Friday evening. "By the end of it, we were on the same page."

Martin can become a free agent at the end of the season. Prior to agreeing on a one-year, $7.5 million deal before going to arbitration, Cashman had put forth the idea of a three-year contract that would have included this season.

On Thursday, Colleran told ESPNNewYork.com he planned to present Cashman a counter proposal that could serve to rip up this year's deal.

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman tweeted the Yankees were only prepared to go to three years and $20 million.

Martin will likely seek $8-$10 million per year and will have more negotiating leverage with a big season and the specter of free agency.