Burnett Dominates Weakened Mets Lineup

Written by: Drew Sarver on 28th June 2009

A.J. Burnett strikes out Jeremy Reed | read this item

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WP – Burnett (6-4) LP – Redding (1-3)

No one would have expected A.J. Burnett to go out and top CC Sabathia’s performance from Friday night (7 IP 3 H 1 ER), but that’s exactly what the fellow “initialed” starter did last night. Burnett had a no-no for 5 innings and threw 7 innings of 1-hit, shutout baseball in the Yankees’ 5-0 win over their crosstown rivals, the New York Mets.

The Yankees’ bats also continued their offensive resurgence in picking up their 4th straight win. Home runs by Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher sent Tim Redding to the showers in the 6th inning and again broke up a close game. Burnett was the story in this one, though, as the veteran right-hander took advantage of a Mets lineup weakened by injuries. He walked two batters in the 2nd inning, but got catcher Brian Schneider to pop out to end the inning. Burnett would allow one more walk, but didn’t allow a base hit until Alex Cora led off the 6th with a single. In the two games of the latest version of the Subway Series, the Mets have had hits in just two innings.

Nick Swisher hit his 14th home run to left field to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning, but Redding kept his team in the game until the 6th. Mark Teixeira drilled a one-out double to right-center field and scored on Alex Rodriguez‘ single back up the middle. It was A-Rod’s 9th RBI in the last four games.

Robbie Cano doubled to left and the switch-hitting Posada, batting from the left side, followed with an opposite field 3-run blast to break the game open. It was Posada’s 10th home run of the season and his first since June 10th.

Burnett struck out a season-high 10 batters, including the last batter he faced (Jeremy Reed), in ending his evening. Brian Bruney and David Robertson completed the shutout with one scoreless inning each.

Game Notes

Both Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon sat out the game with the flu. As expected, Jeter feels he can play in tonight’s (8:05 p.m. ET, ESPN) series finale.

Chien-Ming Wang (0-6, 11.20) goes for his first win tonight when he faces Livan Hernandez (5-2, 4.05). El Duque’s younger brother (who knows what ages the two really are) got a no-decision in the Luis Castillo game.

From the Elias Sports Bureau on Brett Gardner’s big Friday night: Rookie center-fielder Brett Gardner went 5-for-6 with a home run in the Yankees’ 9-1 rout over the Mets Friday night. Only two other rookies in Yankees’ history have recorded at least five hits and a home run in a game: Joe DiMaggio in 1936 (five hits and a home run) and Shane Spencer in 1998 (five hits and two home runs). Gardner’s five hit performance was the first by an individual player in a Yankees-Mets game in the regular season or postseason. Gardner has now hit a home run and a triple in the same game three times this season. He is the first Yankee to do that at least three times in a single season since Hank Bauer in 1957 (three).

And even though Derek Jeter sat out Friday, he joined some very select company on his 35th birthday: Derek Jeter turned 35 years old yesterday. His career total of 2623 hits is the seventh highest by age 35 in major-league history. The top six: Ty Cobb, 3055; Hank Aaron, 2792; Rogers Hornsby, 2754; Robin Yount, 2733; Sam Crawford, 2678; and Willie Keeler, 2675. Pete Rose had 2558 hits before turning 35 on April 14, 1976.

Topics: a.j. burnett, Alex Rodriguez, Brian bruney, Burnett 1-hits Mets, Derek Jeter, Gary Sheffield, Interleague Play, Jorge Posada, nick swisher, NY Mets, Subway Series, Tim Redding, Yankees 6/27 recap, Yankees vs. Mets

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