The Yankees have scored just 4 runs in each of their last 5 post-season games this October. But, some of those games were extra-inning contests. (See chart above.)

When you boil it down to runs scored per 9 innings of play, over their last five games of this post-season, the Yankees are averaging 3.46 runs/9 Inn played. And, some of those runs were gifts from the Angels bad defense in Game 1 and 2 of the ALCS.

So, what’s happened to the big, bad, bats of the Yankees regular season offense? Are they all on vacation or something? Or, is it a whole different ballgame when you’re facing post-season teams and their pitching compared to when you’re facing teams like Mets, Orioles, Blue Jays and A’s in the regular season?

Former New York Yankees star Chuck Knoblauch surrendered to authorities this morning after being charged with assault.

The former major leaguer is accused of choking his common-law wife Friday night after drinking heavily and taking the anti-anxiety prescription drug Xanax, prosecutors said.

Assistant District Attorney Kari Allen told State District Judge Hazel Jones that the couple was arguing and Knoblauch’s wife was trying to take his car keys away from him when the alleged assault occurred. She said a family friend saw Knoblauch beat, punch and choke his wife.

The two are divorcing and have a 5-year-old child.

Knoblauch, 41, was charged with assault of a family member, a third-degree felony. He is being held in Harris County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Knoblauch’s attorney, Dan Cogdell, called the incident a dispute between two divorcing people and said charges should not have been filed.

This goes back to my Mell Hall beef back in 2007.

Chuck played with the Twins for seven seasons – and he played in New York for four years. Yet, when it’s bad news to report…they’re always a “former Yankee.” It’s just not right…

I am so tired – and done – with hearing people talk about pitch counts and innings limits. (And, in Yankeeland, where there’s “Joba,” there’s talk about counts and limits, etc.)

Regarding pitch counts and innings limits, with respect to preventing abuse of pitchers, to quote the dying Comedian “It’s a joke. The whole thing is just a joke.” And, here’s why:

1. Using an inning as a measuring unit for pitcher workload is a mistake. Not all innings are alike. Do you really think a pitcher works as hard in a 9-pitch inning as he goes in a 35-pitch inning? Of course, the answer is “no.” But, in the world of limiting innings, based on innings pitched totals alone, you are treating the 9-pitching inning the same as the 35-pitch inning and that’s just silly.

2. Using pitch counts, to determine a pitcher’s workload, alone, is a mistake. Not all pitch count totals are the same. Do you really think that a pitcher who throws 100 pitches over 7 innings in a game has worked as hard as a pitcher who has thrown 100 pitches over 4 2/3 innings? Of course, the answer is “no.” But, in the world of watching pitch counts, based on pitch count totals alone, you are looking at the destination and ignoring the journey that it took to get there. And, the journey is where all the labor is – and it’s not at the end of trip.

3. Heck, not all pitches are alike in terms of the stress they put on a pitcher’s arm. Do you think it’s the same on a pitcher’s arm when he throws a four-seam fastball as it is when he throw a split-fingered fastball? How about when he throws a two-seam fastball and a curve? Think that feels the same on his elbow? How about a straight-change versus a slider? While we’re at it, how about a pitch thrown from the full wind-up versus the stretch? Think they both feel the same on the arm?

So, forget pitch counts and innings limits when worrying about protecting a pitcher’s arm. If you really want to protect a starting pitcher’s arm, do this: The day after each of his starts, do a test on his arm – the shoulder, rotator cuff, elbow, etc. – and measure the strength of it. And, if you see that his arm is not losing any strength after each start, more so than usual, then he’s fine. And, only if you start to notice a trend where his wing is starting to weaken, again, more so than usual, after his starts, then you can start to back-off on his workload.

Anyway, that’s what I would suggest – rather than just look at pitch counts and/or innings totals. How about you?

Say this for the Yankees and Mets: They went into the baseball trading deadline with low expectations and met them.

Privately, the Yankees were astounded at the seemingly underwhelming return Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik got for Jarrod Washburn (second-tier pitching prospects Luke French and Mauricio Robles) – especially after he’d pulled off such a coup earlier in the week by fetching shortstop Jack Wilson and former 14-game winner Ian Snell out of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ firesale for light-hitting shortstop Ronny Cedeno, defensively challenged catcher/first base prospect Jeff Clement and three low-level pitching prospects. The Yankees thought they could have given Seattle a better package for Washburn, who’s a free agent after the season, but Zduriencik kept asking for top-tier prospects such as outfielder Austin Jackson.

Nevertheless, the Yankees have to be classified with the losers at the deadline, if only because they really needed to add a starting pitcher, while two of their potential postseason opponents, the Tigers (with Washburn) and the Red Sox (with catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez) made significant upgrades.

I’ve seen the reports since Friday that say the Yankees passed on Jarrod Washburn because Jack Zduriencik was insisting on Austin Jackson in return…and, I have to confess, it sounds like Yankees propaganda to me. You know…like…”Hey, we wanted Washburn, but, Seattle tried to rob us blind…and Brian Cashman is too smart for that!”

Sure, maybe the M’s asked for Jackson. I bet they may have asked for Jesus Montero too. Shoot, maybe they even asked for Mariano Rivera? After all, that’s the job of the G.M. – to get the best player in return, if possible. But, on the flipside, the Yankees should have not let it go at that…there’s an art to negotiations, no? If Jack Zduriencik started high on the return for Washburn, the Yankees should have tried to get him down from there…rather than just say “No way!” and walk away.

Maybe the M’s would have taken a package of Dellin Betances and Ian Kennedy for Jarrod Washburn? When you look at what Seattle got, Luke French and Mauricio Robles, it’s not an insult to say Betances and Kennedy are somewhat close to that…

In any event, this whole “They wanted Austin Jackson and that was the end of it” thing just bothers me…because it really does make it seem like the Yankees really weren’t trying here…

Bernie Williams, Tommy John, Paul O’Neill, Ed Figueroa, Dave Winfield, David Wells, Tino Martinez, Jim Abbott, Mike Pagliarulo, Jim Kaat, Wade Boggs, Kei Igawa, Scott Brosius, Chuck Knoblauch, and David Justice…

O.K., I’m kidding about the Kei Igawa part…

But, no Bernie, Tino, Boomer or the Warrior? What’s up with that?

(And, I’m not forgetting guys like Don Mattingly, Willie Randolph, Chris Chambliss, Lou Piniella, Roberto Kelly, Dave Righetti, Sparky Lyle, Tim Raines and Mike Torrez. I left them off because they have jobs that would not allow them to be there. Roger Clemens? Well, if you gotta ask…)

However, over their next 13 games, the Yankees caught fire – as they went 11-2 from May 8th through May 21st. During this time, they moved four games closer to first place (shaving their games back from 5.5 to just 1.5).

At that time, few looked at that 11-2 run by New York and were willing to say that most of that was against the Orioles and Twins (where the Yankees went 9-1).

In fact, the Yankees went 5-1 against the Orioles during this time and Baltimore had just fashioned a terrible string of games prior to this period where they went 6-15 (from April 15th through May 7th). Basically, the Yankees caught the O’s when they were playing terrible baseball. Also, the Yankees went 4-0 against the Twins during this period where the Yankees were very lucky, out-scoring the Twins by five runs, overall, in those four contests.

But, for the record, at this blog, on May 27th, one week after the Yankees finished that 11-2 run, I wrote:

As of this morning, the Yankees are in second place in the A.L. East – one game back of the Boston Red Sox. That’s the good news.

Overall, the Yankees record is now 26-20. They are 6 games over the .500 mark.

However, to date, the Yankees are 6-3 against the lowly Baltimore Orioles this year. And, the Yankees recently took a four-game series from the Twins – where the Yankees were very lucky, out-scoring the Twins by five runs, overall, in those four contests.

When you take these layup games against the O’s out of the picture, and subtract those four lucky wins against the Twinkies, the Yankees are 16-17. This is one game below the .500 mark.

This leads to today’s wild thought: Is the Yankees current place in the A.L. East standings misleading in terms of capturing their performance this season, so far? Has New York, sans some favorable match-ups and a few lucky games, been more of a mediocre performer this season?

Based on the comments left to that entry, many disagreed with my suggestion that “sans some favorable match-ups and a few lucky games” the Yankees had “been more of a mediocre performer this season.”

Well, what’s happened in Yankeeland since that run where New York went 11-2?

Including today’s loss against the lowly Washington Nats, in their last 25 games, from May 22nd through June 18th, the New York Yankees have gone 13-12. Just as was the case in their first 28 games of the season, with this mark, New York has played, and looked like, a mediocre ballclub. Actually, it’s worse than this when you consider that Willy Aybar and Luis Castillo handed the Yankees two wins during this period. Even Yankees fanboys with the biggest and baddest pair of Yankees Blinders possible would be willing to admit that New York’s record should be more like 11-14 over these last 25 games rather than the 13-12 that it’s been, in reality.

So, in summary, this has been the Yankees 2009 season to date: 28 games of mediocrity, followed by 13 games of serendipity, followed by 25 games of mediocrity. Basically, it’s been a couple of thin slices of luck sandwiched by two thick oversized slices of mediocrity. And, to me, when you digest that sandwich, you mostly taste the mediocrity.

Hopefully, the remaining 96 games for the Yankees this season will be more palatable. However, if it ends up being another big bowl of mediocrity, I would not be shocked. As, so far this season, the Yankees have showed us that they are capable of little else other than playing bourgeoisie (middle class) baseball.

There’s a huge difference between physical errors, failures, shortcomings that happen in the course of a baseball game and bad play that is the result of a lack of concentration and focus. Every baseball manager understands this matter. In fact, many times, the physical “stuff” is a matter of law of averages, the sun not shining on the same dog’s butt everyday, or, even, the result of a player trying too hard. In baseball, you have to learn to live with that. However, it’s inexcusable, when a player fails on the field because of a lack of hustle or they just don’t have their head in the game. This is the stuff that drives baseball managers – and some fans, like me – crazy.

When you allow yourself to fall asleep on the bases, and/or misplay a fly ball after tracking it and being in a position where it is inches from your glove, like Swisher did in this game (in question), it shows that you’re not giving the contest 100% concentration. And, such lack of attention during a critical game is indefensible – again, in my opinion. Hence, this is why Nick Swisher has garnered the bulk of my wrath about the loss of June 10th.

Save the bonehead act for the clubhouse and the media Nick. On the field, it’s important to play “hard” – in the sense of staying focused – all the time, not just most of the time.

For several hours before Rivera took the ball Saturday afternoon in that tie game, he’d suffered with a stomach ailment that brought aches and repeated vomiting, according to one Yankee. Rivera had rolled off the trainer’s table, where he’d hoped to sleep it off, and into the bullpen in the eighth inning, when he began to warm up.

So, no, he didn’t have his best command. And, no, he didn’t have his best fastball.

But, he didn’t sprinkle the Yankee Stadium mound with breakfast, which, in itself, was a small victory, even in defeat.

“He was so upset afterward,” the teammate said.

And yet, Rivera did not mention it after the game, and he did not reveal it late Sunday afternoon, when it would have played less like an excuse than, in victory, the simple retelling of a trying 30 hours. He did not hang those hittable fastballs or that loss on his illness. He did not blame manager Joe Girardi for asking him to pitch in a tie game when a healthier body might have – and probably should have – done.

He accepted the baseball.

That was that.

A day later, when clearly his vigor had returned and the Rays had been helpless, Rivera said only that these are the public and emotional wanderings he accepts as a closer, indeed, as the Yankees’ closer. He said he slept fine Saturday night, and that he would again Sunday night.

“Yesterday was yesterday,” he said.

Well, Mo may not want to blame Joe – but I will do it. When someone has a stomach bug – bad enough to cause repeated vomiting – it’s insane to ask them to play in a major league baseball game at the same time. You need at least one day, of eating real food and being able to keep it down, before you start to tax your body again.

Granted, if this were Game Seven of the World Series, sure, that would change my stance on this one. But, the Yankees should be able to find someone else to pitch the 9th inning of a tie-game in June, right? Or, is the bullpen that Brian Cashman built so bad that there’s no one else to trust in a spot like this other than Mariano Rivera on fumes? If so, maybe Cashman, and not Girardi is to blame here? What do you think?

In last night’s game, Nick Swisher, after doubling and then moving to third on a ground out, in the fouth inning, got picked off third base by the pitcher – sleeping on the bases so badly that Yankees third base coach Rob Thomson pushed him back to the bag…which is a no-no, per the rules. Swisher’s nap on the bases cost the Yankees a run in that spot.

In this evening’s game, during the bottom of the second with runners on first and second and no outs, Phil Hughes allowed Gregg Zaun to single to right. Nick Swisher, playing right field, picked up the ball and air-mailed a throw…way past home plate…when the lead runner, who was on second, had stopped at third base. Swisher’s throw then allowed the run to score while also allowing the runner on first to go to third and Zaun to reach second. The safe and secure play would have been to get the ball to the cut-off man. Instead, Swisher’s boner set-up Hughes for what would become a disaster of an inning.

Nick Swisher is showing us, in Yankeeland, that he’s a meathead on the field as much as he is in the clubhouse and when he’s hamming it up for the media.

I know that I may come across, to some, like Siegfried saying “This is Kaos. We don’t shush here!” when I say this, but, frankly, someone needs to take Nitwit Swisher aside and tell him “We’re the Yankees. We don’t play with our craniums lodged in our sphincter here.”

There’s a pattern forming with respect to Swisher’s on field actions and it needs to be nipped in the bud. Pronto.