Yanks' offense not so bad after all

Maybe it's because Derek Jeter is the second-best (or worst) shortstop in town, or because Jorge Posada isn't hitting his weight.

Maybe it's because Nick Swisher is playing as though he wants the Yankees to think long and hard about the $10.25-million option they have for him next year.

Or maybe it's because yes, as you might have heard, the Yankees haven't hit very well with runners in scoring position.

Whatever the cause, it has led to the Yankees fielding, arguably, the best beleaguered offense in the history of baseball.

The Yankees captured round two of the Subway Series Saturday night at the Stadium, as they bunched together four homers to defeat the Mets, 7-3, and avenge Friday night's 2-1 loss.

"I feel good about this offense," Joe Girardi said after the game. "You're going to see guys get hot again, get away from this stretch where you're playing 32 out of 33 days."

Russell Martin, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez went deep, allowing the Yankees to go 0-for-1 (with a sacrifice fly) with RISP and nevertheless prevail. A.J. Burnett lasted 61/3 innings and the bullpen took care of the rest.

The Yankees have scored 226 runs in 44 games, first in the American League in the game's most important offensive statistic. They also have 70 homers, which leads the major leagues by a wide margin, and 52.2 percent of their runs have come via the round-tripper.

This seems to bring agita to a significant segment of the Yankees' fan base, and A-Rod lobbied for a leadership position after hitting his ninth homer of the season.

"It's important for us to think small ball, hit behind runners, and also score with base hits, doubles, sacrifice," A-Rod said. "Later on, when it counts the most, it's hard to score only with home runs."

To test A-Rod's theory, I looked back at the 2009 World Series: The Yankees scored 32 runs, and only eight of them resulted from homers. OK, fair enough.

But the best way to hit with runners in scoring position is to get runners on base, and at that, the Yankees are doing just fine. Entering Saturday night, they were tied for second (with Cleveland) in the American League with a .335 on-base percentage.

Moreover, the Yankees entered the game with a .337 on-base percentage and .441 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position, compared with .335 and .443 overall. So they actually were doing about the same "in the clutch" and all situations. They haven't been "choking" no matter how much it feels that way.

It must be appreciated that scoring is down around the game. The Yankees totaled 859 runs last year; they're on pace to score 832, yet they still top the AL leader board.

Now this isn't to say that all is perfect. Said Teixeira: "We're obviously capable of more." The issues/suggestions, in a nutshell:

1. Brett Gardner needs to lead off against righthanders, as he was at the beginning of the season, and start far more often against lefthanders. Andruw Jones, dreadful so far, should be given a short window to prove he has something left.

2. In conjunction with this, Jeter should drop to seventh against righthanders. It's time already.

3. If Posada doesn't pick up his play in the next few weeks, he has to make way for youngster Jesus Montero.

4. Swisher, too, can't be untouchable. It wouldn't be easy to find a qualified replacement, but the Yankees can't let his ineptitude go on forever.

Yes, the Yankees have concerns on offense. Fewer, it should be stressed, than any other team in their league.