Johnny Damon struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch to end the game Wednesday afternoon.

That at-bat symbolizes what the Yankee offense has been lately: dormant.

The White Sox defeated the Yanks 5-3 in the first of two in Chicago.  Joe Torre juggled the lineup, but it couldn't wake the Yankees from their offensive slumber. 

The Good:

Bobby Abreu.  Abreu was batting in the seventh hole and responded with two hits in four at-bats.  His solo homer in the fifth tied the score at 1-1 and he looked more comfortable at the plate.  Maybe his 2 for 4 afternoon, which all came against left handed pitchers, will get him back on track.

Melky Cabrera.  Melky tied the score at 2-2 in the sixth with an RBI double and took a home run away from Juan Uribe in the the fifth.  He also nearly gunned out Rob Mackowiak at the plate in the sixth.  Good day for the Melk-Man.

The Bad:

Mike Mussina.  Mussina wasn't awful, but he couldn't put everything together.  He gave up two homers and wasn't able to hold down the White Sox after the Yanks tied the score in the fifth and sixth inning.  Then he just ran out of gas in the sixth.  His fastball lost its zip and his breaking pitches were spinning toward the plate.  His losing line: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 1 K.

Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod nearly hit a ball out in the fourth inning, but he finished 0 for 4 and has cooled off since his torrid April.  He also had a chance to pick up an RBI or two in the fifth, but popped out with runners on first and second.  A-Rod is 2 for his last 17 (.118).

The Ugly:

The listless Yankee offense.  John Danks pitched well, but the Yankees have scored 13 runs in their last five games and 7 of those runs came in one game.  This is unacceptable.  It's not like they're going up against Cy Young quality starters.  The pitching is starting to come around, but if the offense doesn't score runs, it's not going to matter.  

Game 2 will start at 7:11 p.m. Central Time.  Chien-Ming Wang will go up against former Yankee Jose Contreras.

The Yanks better start hitting if they want the split.