Yanks' offense looking to kick in on road trip

KANSAS CITY -- It's been a tough few weeks for the Yankees' offense, but it could not be solely blamed for an 8-4 loss to the Royals on Saturday night.

Most of the onus fell on the starting pitching, as the Yanks tallied four runs for the second straight game.

Four runs is nothing spectacular, but it's an improvement given New York's struggles at the plate. Entering Sunday's action, the Yankees had not scored more than four runs since May 28.

"We scored four runs, consistently, that's better than what we've been doing in a sense, so I just think it's going to turn around," manager Joe Girardi said.

A big plus was Carlos Beltran's RBI double that sparked a three-run sixth on Saturday. It was Beltran's first hit since coming off the disabled list on Thursday.

Girardi hopes his team can work out the kinks during this 10-game road trip.

"You'd love to have consistency from your offense, but you know that you're going to go through some ups and downs just like you do with pitching, but obviously the more consistent you are, the better chance you have of winning every day," Girardi said.