It’s not much better under Mark Teixeira’s photo on the Yankees website. One clip is of Teixeira grounding out to Howard. Sure, there’s an RBI involved, but it’s not exactly the highlight Teixeira (or the Yankees) thought would be attributed to him when New York outbid everyone for his services in the offseason. The other clip shows Teixeira making an excellent defensive play, the one solace for the first baseman.

“If you don’t know that that’s happening, then you haven’t been watching this series,’’ Teixeira said of his struggles at the plate. “That’s baseball. I understand that I’m going to go through slumps. But, at the same time, I’m going to pick myself up and pick my teammates up on defense.’’

That’s exactly what he has done. But little else.

And while the scenarios aren’t exactly the same, neither first baseman has been himself offensively in the World Series. While Howard’s downturn began against the Yankees - he hit .375 with six RBIs in the Division Series and .333 with two homers and eight RBIs in the League Championship Series - it’s different for Teixeira. He has been horrific at the plate since the regular season concluded, with just 10 hits in 58 at-bats (.172) in the postseason.

But as bad as Teixeira was in the previous two rounds, he has been even worse in the World Series. Teixeira has two hits, though one was a home run, in 19 at-bats, and has struck out seven times. The strikeout number, however, looks like nothing compared with Howard’s 12.

“Ryan and I are very similar players,’’ Teixeira said. “When we get on hot streaks, it’s tough to get us out, and we can carry a team. When you’re a power hitter and you try to hit home runs, when you try to drive in a lot of runs, you’re also going to strike out. That’s just the way it is. If you want Ryan Howard to hit .300 and hit 15 homers a year, then he’s not going to go through slumps.’’

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel put it similarly, if more succinctly: “Mostly it’s kind of the way a lot of times big hitters go.’’

The pitcher who next will have to face Howard, Andy Pettitte, said he believes the Yankees have been able to slow him by keeping their pitches out of the middle of the plate. And when they haven’t been successful in doing that, Howard has missed, popped up, and hasn’t hurt them. With Chase Utley hitting everything that comes close to the zone, the containment of Howard has been a major factor for the Yankees.

“I think we’ve made good pitches to him,’’ manager Joe Girardi said. “I think we’ve changed speeds on him, I think we’ve moved the ball around him. The bottom line is I think we’ve made good pitches on him. He’s an extremely dangerous hitter, and if you don’t make pitches, you’re not going to get him out, and he proved that in the first two rounds.’’

Teixeira, though, hasn’t even proven that much. Though he was a force in the Angels’ losing effort last season against the Red Sox - 7 for 15, all singles - Teixeira has been anything but at the plate this year. While insisting that he’s not looking for excuses, not interested in making them, Teixeira said that the format of the playoffs might not exactly help him. It’s hard to get in a rhythm this time of year, with extra days off and extra batting practice and extra video time.

But at least he is contributing defensively. He was outstanding in the ALCS against the Angels, and has continued his steady and sometimes spectacular play at first base against the Phillies.

“That’s just the way I’ve always played the game,’’ Teixeira said. “I’m always very cognizant of the fact that you’re not going to get a hit every time up.

“You want to get that big hit every time up. But if you don’t, you can’t take it out to the field because one strikeout in a game is not going to be the game. One big error with men on base in the eighth inning, it might be the game. That might be the difference between a win and a loss, so you can’t take it out on the field.’’

Still, it doesn’t make it any easier on a team when its No. 3 hitter (Teixeira) or No. 4 hitter (Howard) becomes an offensive sinkhole. Others (Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Jayson Werth, Utley) have helped make up for the absences in the middle of the orders, but the teams need their first basemen to produce. They need those bats, even if it’s only for the final game (or two) of the World Series - especially for the comeback-minded Phillies.

Asked if Philadelphia can win, even if Howard doesn’t come out of his slump, Manuel said, “Yeah. Yes, we can. We can win it easier if he hits.’’

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.