Yankees' offense back on track

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman figured the offensive woes his team left town with a little over a week ago were a short-term problem.

"The offense was obviously much better than it had been playing of late," Cashman said by phone Thursday afternoon. "I was waiting for it to fall back into place."

That it did during the just-completed six-game trip in which the Yankees went 5-1 and outscored Atlanta and Boston by a combined 57-24.

It was more indicative of how the Yankees, who start a 10-game homestand Friday against the Rays, have produced runs this season. While not as potent as the Blue Jays, whom the Yankees trail by 11/2 games in the AL East, the Bombers have been among baseball's highest-scoring teams much of the season.

Still, August did bring a downturn, which had Cashman, though confident the bats would snap out of their funk, concerned nonetheless.

"It's healthy to doubt, you never count on anything," Cashman said. "Injuries happen but you have to overcome it, and this team always seemed to find a way to get off the mat and bounce back. But we were hitting the skids far too long on offense. August was brutal for us."

Surprisingly, the bottom of the order led the offensive resurgence on the trip, with much-maligned Stephen Drew a significant contributor. The 32-year-old went 9-for-20 with nine RBIs on the trip to raise his average to .211.