Bronx Briefing: A.J. Burnett Bringing Consistency
By Neil Keefe
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I was waiting for A.J. Burnett to implode on Thursday against the Tigers. I was waiting and waiting and waiting, like I have been waiting since his first start of the season, but it never happened. Sure, the Tigers opened it up in the seventh inning with Burnett on the mound, but it wasn't Burnett's fault (he can thank Eduardo Nunez for that).
I was waiting for Burnett to implode because that's what he does when April ends (he's now 9-1 in three Aprils with the Yankees and 18-25 when it's not April). Except he didn't implode. He came close a few times, but never succumbed to the temptation of letting the game get out of hand -- the way he did for pretty much all of 2010 and a lot of time in 2009.
Only three of Burnett's seven starts have qualified as quality starts, but he's yet to allow more than four earned runs in a game, and he's kept what's supposed to be the best offense in baseball (though it hasn't looked like it lately) in games. But the key with Burnett has been his ability to avoid that one inning where it unravels in the blink of an eye.
Burnett brought a no-hitter against the Tigers into the sixth inning on Thursday and failed to hold a one-run lead, but one would like to think the Yankees could score more than two runs for their starter (they scored a third in the ninth) after scoring just two runs in the last two games combined. After loading the bases with a single, walk and hit by pitch, Burnett gave the Tigers a lead on a sacrifice fly. For the first time this season I was certain he was going to put the game out of reach for the offense. However, Burnett proved again that he is capable of stopping the bleeding when he got a ground out with the infield in for the second out, and then what would have been an inning-ending grounder to Nunez was thrown away, allowing two runs to score. It was Nunez's second throwing error of the game and his fifth in just 21 innings at shortstop this season.
In a season in which the Yankees need A.J. Burnett to be a pitcher they gave $82.5 million to, he's being just that. Burnett leads the Yankees in wins with four in seven starts and could have easily won the other if not for a Mariano Rivera blown save and the offense not showing up the other two times. A.J.'s early season success has been credited to his new changeup and his chemistry with Russell Martin behind the plate after struggling to get comfortable with Jorge Posada the last two seasons.
For a guy who was a question mark a little more than a month ago, he's pitched good enough to win in all seven of his starts and is giving the Yankees exactly what they hoped for before the season and what they have needed since Phil Hughes went down.
Burnett deserved better on Thursday against the Tigers (7 IP, 2 ER), and he deserved better last week against the White Sox (8 IP, 1 ER). He might have taken the loss in both games, but he's taken the right steps to becoming a true No. 2 starter.
