"He is not chasing 3,000 hits like Derek Jeter or the betting choice to surpass Barry Bonds on the all-time home run list like Alex Rodriguez.

Yet the Yankees' lineup has a lot more teeth in it when switch-hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira is going well.

So it wasn't a surprise that with Teixeira in a slump the Yankees scored four, two and three runs in the previous three games before yesterday's 5-3 win over the Angels at Angel Stadium.

Teixeira showed a small sign that he was going to break out of a 1-for-11 funk in the first inning with a two-out, opposite-field single to left-center and announced his re-entry in a big way with towering homers in the third and fifth innings.

After Curtis Granderson nullified Jeter's leadoff single in the third by hitting into a double play, Teixeira pulled a 0-1 pitch from Joel Pineiro to right for his 17th homer of the season and first in 20 at-bats."