CHICAGO -- The slumping Yankees, in the midst of one of their most difficult stretches of the season, appear to be in dire need of a wakeup call.
Could the Subway Series be enough to shake things up?

A getaway day matinee Thursday at U.S. Cellular Field surely wasn't the tonic. Rookie right-hander Matt DeSalvo was roughed up early and the Yankees' offense kept a low profile for the afternoon, leaving town with a quiet 4-1 loss to the White Sox.

"We're playing hard, but coming up empty," said Yankees manager Joe Torre, whose club fell to 18-21 with the loss, nine games behind the Red Sox in the American League East.

"We're keeping the game close enough to win. Everybody feels like they are letting everybody down. We need to get in a position where we play consistent, winning baseball."

The defeat spelled a second consecutive series defeat for the Yankees, who are struggling through one of their roughest stretches of the schedule. From Chicago, the Yankees move on to play three games against the Mets at Shea Stadium and then welcome Boston to town.

Derek Jeter, who had one of the Yankees' six hits in the loss, expressed optimism that the supercharged crowds might do something to restore the team's offensive listlessness. The Yankees have lost five of seven and have been held to two runs or fewer in four of those games.

"Sometimes you play some of the best and it brings out the best," Jeter said. "We'll see what happens."

After stifling the Mariners in his first two Major League starts, DeSalvo (1-1) allowed four runs on six hits over 3 1/3 innings, including a two-run homer on a flat changeup to Jermaine Dye in the third inning -- part of a four-RBI afternoon for the Chicago right fielder.

Dye also had a run-scoring double in the first inning off DeSalvo, who didn't have the same command as he did in his previous efforts and said that he had difficulty keeping the White Sox off balance.

"I had a good fastball today, but I didn't bring my best offspeed to the game," DeSalvo said. "It's something where I've just got to challenge every guy and throw every pitch as hard as I can, just like I do in my bullpens, and see where each pitch will take me."

DeSalvo walked four and struck out two in a 76-pitch performance. He was relieved by Luis Vizcaino in the fourth after allowing the first two batters of the frame to reach base.

Dye followed up on Tadahito Iguchi's double and a catcher's interference call on Jorge Posada by lofting a sacrifice fly to center field.

"He made some mistakes and they capitalized on them," Posada said of DeSalvo. "It seemed like he fell behind on some of the hitters. That's a pretty good lineup there and you want to keep attacking it."

The Yankees' bats were held quiet by White Sox starter Jon Garland, who induced three double plays -- two on Hideki Matsui -- to work out of trouble. Garland (2-3) had the Yankees' number, allowing a run on six hits in seven innings, walking four and striking out two.

"We had some opportunities," Torre said. "We hit some double-play balls. The one thing about Garland is that he knows how to pitch strikes and he knows how to move the ball in and out."

Scoreless for the first six innings, the Yankees finally broke through with a run against Garland in the seventh. Robinson Cano legged out a leadoff triple and Doug Mientkiewicz ripped a one-out double off the glove of Dye, who had gone back to the right-field warning track in pursuit.

But that would be all for the Yankees, who went quietly in the eighth and ninth innings. Four of the Yankees' hits in the game were for extra bases, but the club's lineup is still experiencing brownouts.

Torre said that the Yankees need to regain some of their lost confidence, and timely hitting would do a great deal to steer the ship in that direction.

"I think it's just not trying to do too much," said Alex Rodriguez, who had two hits Thursday but has just four in his last 28 at-bats. "Guys need to have the same approach and get a good pitch to hit. There's no home runs needed, no grand slams to be hit with nobody on base. Take the walks and go the other way, collectively."

Among those with recent slumps who will try to break out as the Yankees play three National League-style games this weekend: Bobby Abreu (4-for-20), Cano (3-for-29) and Jason Giambi (1-for-24).

"I think this is the best offense right now in the game," Abreu said. "We're going to be all right. We're going to start to get some runs."

Bobby Jenks finished the affair off in the ninth inning for his 13th save and sent the Yankees packing for New York, where they can only hope that a half-hostile, half-friendly crowd at Shea Stadium will bring a string of victories to the surface.

"We know it's crazy when we go play the Mets," Torre said. "We need to get something started against somebody. Hopefully, it will be tomorrow."
Dunno about any of you, but I'm scared out of my mind for the Subway Series.