If the Yankees are going to go far in this year’s post-season they’re going to need A.J. Burnett to be at the top of his game. For most of the past month two months, Burnett’s been anything but at the top of his game. That trend continued earlier today when Burnett was hammered by the Baltimore Orioles for six runs in the 2nd inning and dropped to 11-9 in the Yankees 7-3 defeat.
The Yankees took a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st inning when Derek Jeter picked up hit number 2,724 and eventually came around to score on a Mark Teixeira sacrifice fly. But it was short lived as Burnett couldn’t get anyone out in the top of the 2nd. Nolan Reimold tied the game with a solo home run to start the frame and Robert Andino put the O’s ahead with an RBI single. With the bases loaded, Brian Roberts, who to that point hadn’t achieved the same success this season as he had in the past against the Yankees, belted a grand slam over the fence in right-center field for a 6-1 Orioles lead.
Burnett allowed just one hit over the next five innings, but the damage was done. Rookie Brian Matusz improved to 5-2 by allowing just a run on four hits over seven innings. The Yankees added a couple of meaningless runs in the 9th inning on RBI hits by Melky Cabrera and Jorge Posada.
Burnett was 5-0 with an ERA just over 2.00 from late June to late July, but since then he’s gone 1-5, 6.19 ERA in nine starts since. He’s also allowed a career high 24 home runs. In winning 18 games with the Toronto Blue Jays last season, Burnett was 10-4 after the All-Star break.
Topics: a.j. burnett, Baltimore Orioles, Brian Matusz, Brian Roberts, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, NY Yankees, Yankees 9/12 recap, Yankees vs. Orioles
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