New York ? Jason Giambi’s telephone rang and Big Mac was on the line.

“God, will you relax out there?” Mark McGwire said. “Don’t bury yourself. You’re too good a hitter.”

Giambi, off to a poor start with the New York Yankees, got a telephone call Friday from his former Oakland teammate and talked about it after Saturday’s 3-0 win over Tampa Bay.

McGwire, in his first season of retirement, watched Giambi go 0-for-5 Friday. He thought Giambi was pressing.

“He said he did the same thing when he first went to St. Louis,” Giambi said.

Giambi, who played alongside McGwire from 1995 until Big Mac was dealt to the Cardinals in 1997, concentrated on relaxing Saturday. On the cold afternoon, he was the DH instead of playing first base and went 0-for-1 with two walks and was hit by pitch.

“I didn’t feel so much like a deer in headlights,” he said.

He popped out in the first inning after driving a ball foul into the upper deck, walked in the third and fifth innings and was hit on the right shoulder blade by a Doug Creek pitch in the seventh. He left that inning for a pinch-runner.

On Friday, fans booed Giambi and chanted “Tino! Tino!” in a reference to his predecessor, Tino Martinez. On Saturday, the fans chanted “Let’s Go, Jason!”

Giambi’s $120 million, seven-year contract has put attention on him, and in his first five games with the Yankees he’s batting .119 (2-for-17) with no RBIs. After hitting .315 or higher with 120 or more RBIs in his last three seasons with Oakland, Giambi knows there are big expectations from fans.

“I want to do just as good as they want me to do good,” he said.