Girardi can relate to club's offensive struggles

KANSAS CITY -- With 15 seasons logged as an MLB player, Yankees manager Joe Girardi knows all about prolonged spells of the doldrums.

Therefore, Girardi can relate to his struggling team, which is scoring just 2.5 runs per game during its current 3-7 slump.

"Believe me, I know what it was like to struggle as a hitter," said Girardi, whose team finished 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position in a 2-1 loss to the Royals on Sunday.

Despite his anemic offense, Girardi won't make any drastic changes yet.

"You can't necessarily just start changing everything," Girardi said. "I mean, you look at what guys have done in the past, you look at what guys are doing this year and you try to put what you feel is the best lineup together every day."

Girardi says that his time in the Majors helped his patience in times like these.

"I know when I would watch games on TV, or broadcast games I'd say: 'Man, that looks easy to hit,' because it's slow and it's on TV and it's big. But when you got up to the plate, it wasn't easy.

"I understand it. I don't want to ever forget how hard it is to play this game. Some guys at times make it look really easy. But it's really difficult."