"Robinson Cano carried the Yankees in April, but has gone cold of late. Alex Rodriguez hasn't been the muscle man in the middle of the lineup. Designated hitter Jorge Posada continues to struggle, and though Nick Swisher has displayed signs of life lately, he is searching.

That leaves Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson to carry the Yankees, and Teixeira did exactly that yesterday in a 5-0 win over the A's at the Coliseum with a two-run homer off Trevor Cahill during a three-run first inning.

"That was huge -- Cahill is one of the best pitchers in baseball," Teixeira said of the big inning. "We didn't get a lot of hits, but we made them count."

Cahill did not allow another run until the seventh, when the Yankees used walks and stolen bases by Brett Gardner and Francisco Cervelli to score a run."