Cano hits in front of Cabrera, goes 4-4

As we all know, Robinson Cano has had a dismal start to the season. Before last night's game, he had a .183 batting average in 142 at-bats.

Since Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada have been out, the bottom of the lineup is not providing much protection. Cano has had to hit in front of Alberto Gonzalez, Morgan Ensberg and Jose Molina.

While Gonzalez is batting .290, the sample size is rather small, and pitchers would easily rather face him than face Cano. Ensberg is batting .224 with a .268 OBP. Molina has also been awful. Since April 13, Molina is batting .071 (3-42) with one RBI.

Obviously, whoever is batting eighth is not providing much protection for the seven-place hitter (usually Cano).

This was until last night when Joe Girardi put Cano in the six-hole and dropped Melky Cabrera to seventh. Cabrera has developed more power this year, slugging six home runs and driving in 18.

While Cano has been showing improvement - 9-29 with two home runs and four RBI between May 4 and May 13 - he was still below the Mendoza Line.

However, last night Cano's bat showed up. He went 4-4 with an RBI while hitting in front of Cabrera, propelling his average to .205. Cabrera had the misfortune of hitting in front of Ensberg, and went 0-4 as a result. He has been a slide of his own lately, going five for his last 31 with one RBI.

Hopefully this seemingly minor lineup adjustment will jump-start Cano. With Rodriguez and Posada remaining out of the lineup, any help they can get is huge.

(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)