Girardi: Tex will break out soon

BALTIMORE -- Mark Teixeira -- whose two-run homer in the seventh gave the Yankees a 7-5 lead over the Orioles Monday night -- has acknowledged frustration about the way his season has begun. Joe Girardi said it's nothing new to him.

"We've seen these slow starts from Mark," Girardi said. "Most years we've talked about this."

Most memorable was Teixeira's first year with the Yankees, 2009, when he was hitting .191 with a .328 on-base percentage as late as May 12. Then he took off, finishing at .292 with 39 homers and 122 RBIs.

Teixeira entered Monday hitting .223 with a .275 OBP, four homers and 17 RBIs. "I think it's coming soon. I really believe that," Girardi said. "We'll get through it."

Complicating Teixeira's season has been a persistent cough for nearly a month. It got so bad that he saw a chest specialist, who last week said he was suffering from "severe inflammation" in his bronchial airways and prescribed prednisone. Teixeira said it hasn't had an impact yet.

"He has not been healthy for a while here," Girardi said. "He's had a cough for a month . . . and sometimes it's really, really bad.''

A-Rod back at DH

Alex Rodriguez got his 11th start at DH in an effort to keep him healthy. He was hitting .280 with five homers and 14 RBIs before getting three hits in his first four at-bats. "My belief is if we keep him healthy, he's going to drive in 100 runs," Girardi said. "I think over the long haul, he's going to do it."

Homer-happy

The Yankees entered Monday night 19-8 when they hit at least one home run and 0-7 when they don't. "You look at the guys in our lineup, we're a home run-hitting club," Girardi said. "If you don't hit home runs, sometimes it's going to be harder to score runs."