NEW YORK — The offense has spiked in the past three games of the World Series, as expected, but with scant help from the runs batted in leaders in their respective leagues, Mark Teixeira (122) of the American League champion New York Yankees and Ryan Howard (141, tied for the National League title) of the Philadelphia Phillies.

While the Yankees scored 21 runs in Games 3 through 5 of the Series and the Phillies 17 after the teams combined for 11 runs in the first two games, neither Teixeira nor Howard knocked in any of those runs with a hit (Teixeira had one RBI on a groundout).

For the Series, they have highly innocuous batting averages of .105 (Teixeira) and .158 (Howard) although Teixeira, who homered in Game 2, had an eighth-inning double in a Yankees rally in Game 5 on Monday.

Howard, perhaps showing better patience after swinging at and missing a glut of inside sliders, walked twice Monday but also struck out twice more, running his total to a record-tying 12 for the World Series.

On Tuesday's off-day before tonight's Game 6, Howard, who has had little to say about his offensive skid after two doubles in the first game of the Series, was not available to comment at all as the Phillies did not work out at Yankees Stadium. Teixeira, before the Yankees went outside, took on all comers.

Citing the many off days in postseason play, the switch-hitting first baseman said, "Unfortunately during the playoffs, it's tough to get into a rhythm. When you're in a rhythm during the season, you're going to fail seven out of 10 times. When you're not in a rhythm, you're going to fail a lot more than that. That's kind of been the case right now."

Teixeira, however, said he didn't want to use the extra days off as an excuse. "Everyone's had to deal with it," he said.

With so much down time, Teixeira said he had watched more tape and taken more batting practice.

"Maybe that works against you," he said. "Maybe during the season, when you're a little tired, you just kind of go out and play the game because you've played 20 games in a row and your natural abilities take over. I don't know. But the playoffs are always going to be that way."

Comparing his struggles to those of his first-base counterpart, Teixeira said, "Ryan and I are very similar players. When we get on hot streaks, it's tough to get us out.

"But when you're a power hitter and you try to hit home runs ... you also strike out. That's just the way it is."

New York manager Joe Girardi said Howard had been neutralized because "we've made good pitches to him. We've changed speeds on him. We've moved the ball around on him.

"He's an extremely dangerous hitter and if you don't make pitches, you're not going to get him out. He proved that in the first two rounds" when Howard drove in 14 runs in nine games.

Phillies manager Charle Manuel, a longtime hitting coach in the big leagues, said Howard was "not following the ball."

But to a question that Manuel might adjust his lineup and take Howard out of the No. 4 spot, the manager said, "He's been hitting there ever since he's been in the big leagues. All of a sudden, we get in the World Series and I (don't) put him in the four hole? I'm not going to do that."

While Teixeira has been quiet at bat, he has been golden in the field.

"That's the way I've always played," he said. "I've always been very cognizant of the fact that you're not going to get a hit every time up. You want to. You want to hit 1.000. But you can't take it out onto the field."

AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY ...

While the Yankees have let it be known that CC Sabathia would start a seventh game, if necessary, on Thursday, Manuel said he and his staff hadn't decided on a Game 7 hurler yet since the Phillies have to win tonight to create that seventh game.

Cole Hamels, who was quoted after his Game 3 flameout as wishing the season would be over, would have proper rest but there has been some question about his attitude, perhaps even in his own clubhouse where veteran pitcher Brett Myers playfully, it seems, twitted him the other night.

Manuel, after speaking at length on Monday night with Hamels — the most valuable player in last year's World Series — said, "We talked about some of the things that were said and I felt very good about it, really. I never, ever questioned his mental toughness because he's just as tough as anybody on our team."

VICTORINO UPDATE

Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino, who has a bruised finger as a result of being hit by a pitch on Monday, was listed as "day to day" by Manuel on Tuesday. Victorino, however, is expected to play as nothing terribly untoward was found on the X-rays taken Tuesday.