Anaheim, Calif. ? When the Yankees needed pop from Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, they mostly got popups and grounders.

For the second year in a row, New York’s power went out in the playoffs.

Rodriguez was hitless in Monday night’s 5-3 loss to the Angels in Game 5 of the AL division series. He finished the five-game series with no RBIs and batted just .133.

“I had a great year, something I’m very proud of,” Rodriguez said. “I left my guts on the field, I left my heart out there, so I’m not going to hang my head. I’m just going to go out and learn from it and become a better Yankee.”

Sheffield had three hits Monday night, but they were all singles. He did not have an extra-base hit and drove in only two.

Hideki Matsui grounded out with two men on to end the game and left eight men stranded in Game 5. He was hitless in his final nine at-bats and had only one RBI in the series on a home run – all four Yankees homers in the series were solo shots.

“I couldn’t be more proud of guys like Derek Jeter, Sheffield, Matsui. They absolutely played incredible,” Rodriguez said. “Randy Johnson came back with a warrior-type performance today. Unfortunately, guys like myself didn’t contribute. This team has a lot of potential, and we’ll be back.”

Rodriguez and Matsui each had one final failure in the ninth inning. Rodriguez followed Jeter’s leadoff single by bouncing into a double play. Jason Giambi and Sheffield singled before Matsui grounded to first.

George Steinbrenner once called Dave Winfield “Mr. May” after he went 1-for-22 in the 1981 World Series loss to the Dodgers.

No telling what names the Yankees owner might have for some of his stars now after their failures in consecutive postseasons.

Rodriguez was 2-for-17, and Sheffield had one hit in 17 at-bats in the final four games of last year’s AL championship series while the Yankees were in the process of blowing a 3-0 lead against the Red Sox.

Their struggles in this postseason were a dramatic difference from what the trio did this year in helping the Yankees win the AL East.

Rodriguez, baseball’s only $25 million-a-year player, batted .321 during the regular season, with 48 homers and 130 RBIs. Sheffield hit .291, with 34 homers and 123 RBIs. Matsui batted .305, hit 23 home runs and had 116 RBIs.

The lack of punch in the middle of the lineup seemed to carry over: No. 7 hitter Bernie Williams, who has a major-league-record 80 RBIs in postseason play, went 0-for-3 and was just 4-for-19 in the series.