A-Rod: 'I can't think of a worse time to go on the DL'

Before pulling up lame in the fifth inning Tuesday night in Baltimore with a hamstring strain that landed him on the disabled list less than 24 hours later, Alex Rodriguez - the New York Yankees' wildly decorated, 40-year-old designated hitter - addressed his teammates in the clubhouse.

We can do better, he told them.

"There's no reason why we can't score five runs per night," Rodriguez said, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. "That should be a good par for us, especially in our stadium with our offense."

For at least the next two weeks, however, New York's scuffling offense will have to find its footing without Rodriguez, who had hit .429 with three homers over his previous four games heading into Tuesday's series opener.

"I can't think of a worse time to go on the DL," Rodriguez said. "Our offense has been struggling, and I take a lot of pride and responsibility in making sure that our offense overall plays well, hitting through the order."

So far, that hasn't happened. After eking out just one run in Tuesday's loss to the Orioles, the Yankees rank either last or next-to-last in the American League in runs (82), OPS (.666), and isolated power (.127). Having recently started hitting a little bit, Rodriguez was an anomaly.

"We felt like he was heating up a little bit, which we could have definitely used," first baseman Mark Teixeira said. "We haven't had the power that we'd like. I know me, personally, that's what I'm lacking right now, hitting the ball out of the ballpark. Alex was doing that over the past week."

Still, though Rodriguez won't be in the lineup for the foreseeable future, the message he delivered ahead of Tuesday's game hasn't changed.

"It was good," catcher Brian McCann said. "We all needed to get together and kind of get this thing turned around. Getting on the same page, just understanding where we're all at, it helps."