Steinbrenner: Yanks' Hitting Woes 'Ridiculous'

Joe Girardi hadn't heard Hank Steinbrenner's searing comments about the Yankees. The manager didn't have to guess what they were about.

The team's co-chairman said yesterday that the Yankees' lack of offensive production is "getting ridiculous" during a key stretch in the season, with upcoming series against the Red Sox and Rays, the two clubs New York is chasing in the AL East.

After beating the Mets, 9-0, in the second game of a doubleheader on Friday, the Yankees scored just seven runs and batted .172 in losing three of four before last night's 18-7 win over the Rangers.

"We've got to start hitting," Steinbrenner said from Tampa. "They've got to start waking up. They've shown in flashes what they can still do."

The two losses that preceded last night's game were one-run losses to the Rangers, who scored the go-ahead run off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of a 3-2 victory Tuesday night.

"We need to start hitting, I will say that. We scored seven runs the last four days and that's not going to get it done," Girardi said. "You look at the last four games and we've won one of them, and we could have won all four."

Girardi already had shuffled his lineup when he learned of Steinbrenner's comments.

Melky Cabrera, hitless in a career-high 19 at-bats, was replaced in center field by youngster Brett Gardner. Johnny Damon was in left field in place of injured slugger Hideki Matsui, and Derek Jeter was back in the lineup after a night off. The moves seemed to have worked, as every Yankees starter had a hit in the blowout win over the Rangers.

Steinbrenner said he's been surprised by the club's inconsistent offense, but noted that it's been an area of concern for GM Brian Cashman.

"Even when I was worried about the pitching earlier -- starting pitching is the most important thing of all -- but Brian would keep telling me, 'Yes, but I'm worried about the hitting,' " Steinbrenner said. "That was Brian's biggest concern even as we were reconstructing the pitching. We all know they're better than that."

The general manager said the next 10 days will play a big part in the moves he makes before the trade deadline at the end of the month. The Yankees are 7 1/2 games behind division-leading Tampa Bay and four back of the Red Sox, and after hosting both clubs they travel to Pittsburgh for a makeup game and Toronto for three games before the all-star break.

· CHAVEZ TO DL: The Athletics placed six-time Gold Glove 3B Eric Chavez on the 15-day disabled list because of a sore right shoulder and promoted IF Wes Bankston from Class AAA Sacramento.

It was the second trip to the DL this season for the 30-year-old Chavez, who didn't make his season debut until May 29 after back and shoulder surgery during the offseason. He had been limited to designated hitter duty since June 22.

Chavez sat out the three-game weekend series with the Giants and was 1 for 8 with a two RBI in the first two games of Oakland's series with the Angels.

Bankston started at first base yesterday and went 0 for 4 in his major league debut.

-- From News Services