Today is May 22 and a year ago at this exact time, the Yankees had hit 50 home runs. Two years ago at the same time, they had 66. Three years ago at the same moment (the morning of May 22), the Yankees had connected 46 times.

Those are the home run figures through games of May 21 the previous three years of Joe Girardi's managerial reign and following yesterday's four home run display, the Yankees have hit 70 in 1482 at-bats, which means that every 21.1 at-bats a home run will leave someone's bat.

The home runs have helped the Yankees lead the AL with 226 runs scored and with a .447 slugging percentage, but they also have seen the Yankees rank low in other hitting categories. In doubles, the Yankees are 14th, in total hits, they are 11th and in batting average, they are ninth.

Much has been made about the home runs and the fact that the Yankees are the only team in the majors with more than four players hitting at least six home runs.

And to Joe Girardi, so what?

After all the Yankees have always been a team hitting a lot of home runs during their good years and what is the difference between scoring on a home run and scoring on a single, though it is entirely possible that the Yankees' 1-12 record when trailing through five, 1-14 when trailing through six, 1-16 when trailing through seven and 1-17 when behind after eight might be based on struggling to do other things besides hit home runs.

The second part of that question is where the home run detractors come into play, especially since 118 runs (52.2 percent) have occurred that way. That means that the Yankees are not consistently hitting with runners in scoring position, which was evident during much of the last homestand that caused a five-game losing streak.

Home runs 67 through 70 occurred yesterday and they were impressive-looking shots, especially from Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson.

Teixeira had his back foot set as he batted from the right-handed side of the plate and launched a pitch over the right-center field wall.

Granderson looked lost swinging at Chris Capuano sliders during his first two at-bats. On the third, he saw the same pitch and the outcome landed in the front rows of the right field seats.

"I’d hate for anyone to say, ‘I don’t want to hit any home runs anymore,’ " Teixeira said Saturday. "It’s kind of a double-edged sword. If you don’t want the home run, then you better get a lot of hits. You better get a lot of base hits with runners in scoring position."

Still you'd like to see runs scored in other ways, especially when what the AL home run leader in previous years looked like.

"It’s important for us to think small ball and hit behind runners, and also score with base hits, doubles, sacrifices — there are many ways to score," Alex Rodriguez said. "Later on, when it counts the most - it’s hard only to score by home runs."

The 2010 Blue Jays led the league with 257 home runs but then hit .248, which ranked ninth in the league. Two years ago, though was an exception as the Yankees led the league in home runs and were second with a .283 batting average.

Three years ago, the White Sox led the league and made the playoffs despite the fourth-worst batting average in the league, which may have contributed to them being eliminated in the first round by the Rays after winning a 1-0 one-game playoff game against the Twins.

You can go on and on with the arguments for and against home runs. And when the home runs fly like they did Saturday, you get a game like that. And when they're not, you get poor situational hitting such as Friday.

Today the Yankees will try their luck against Mike Pelfrey, who has allowed eight home runs during an inconsistent 3-3 start. The eight home runs are four fewer than his total from last season though five have been allowed during this month when Pelfrey has gone 2-0 with a 2.11 ERA.