That's what A.J. Burnett chalked his poor outing up to. The pitch he was referring to was a 1-2 fastball low but over the center of the plate to Brian Roberts in the second inning that ended up leaving the yard for a grand slam. The problem is that it wasn't just one pitch and this bad start fits in a little too well with his recent string of poor outings to dismiss so conveniently.
Burnett made another mistake on a fastball to the first batter of the 2nd inning, Nolan Reimold, who redirected it to left-center for a solo shot. That pulled the O's even with the run that Derek Jeter scored after singling in the bottom of the first. The bases didn't load themselves for Roberts either, Burnett did that via a walk and two singles. He let up another single to shortstop Robert Andino, surrendering the lead before Roberts even came to the plate.
The six runs that came across in the 2nd were more that enough for Brain Matusz, who kept the Yanks off balance, allowing only 4 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings of one run ball. He only struck out 3 and induced 6 ground balls to 12 flys, but he got the job done in 106 pitches.
The six runs that came across in the 2nd were more that enough for Brain Matusz, who kept the Yanks off balance, allowing only 4 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings of one run ball. He only struck out 3 and induced 6 ground balls to 12 flys, but he got the job done in 106 pitches.
Melky Cabrera and Jorge Posada each added an RBI in the ninth inning but the O's walked away with a 7-3 win.
At any rate, as of 7:15PM, the Yanks lead the Red Sox by 8 games and rain is still falling on Fenway Park, delaying the start of their game with the Rays with a double header already looming on Sunday. The Angels are creeping up in the race for homefield advantage though, as they trail the Yanks by only 3 in the loss column.
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Clearly, Burnett's problems run well beyond his working with Posada, who seems to work well with C.C., Pettite, and others. A.J. is starting to sound a bit like Joba with his post-game self-assessments. Both have been atrocious lately, yet try to pass their starts off as either fairly decent or solved with slight tweaks. With Burnett streaky this year, and in the middle of a lousy streak, hopefully it will end come October. The Yanks need him to be much better than this to win it.
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