Let me wash the dirt off this thread by cleaning it with good old Yankee news.
A.J. Burnett worth every penny as he stops another Yankee skid
Tuesday, April 14th 2009, 10:35 PM
ST. PETERSBURG - His reputation as something of an underachiever is fast being replaced by that of the new Yankee stopper. Injuries notwithstanding, maybe all A.J. Burnett needed to live up to his potential was th
e chance to pitch on a team like this that always seems to be playing big games.hint, hint...Ian
"I think he enjoys the stage," was the way Joe Girardi put it Tuesday night.
This wasn't Broadway, but the lights were pretty bright here at the home of the American League champs after the 15-5 smackdown the Rays gave the Yankees on Monday night, and Burnett responded with eight innings of dominance in a 7-2 victory.
The no-hitter Burnett took into the seventh inning would have been memorable, but even in April this was a night when the Yankees needed a win after the embarrassing series opener when
Nick Swisher was their best pitcher. And they had a feeling, as Girardi indicated, that Burnett was the right guy for the job.
It goes back to the way he dominated the Yanks with the Blue Jays the last couple of years. The Yankees were willing to gamble $82.5 million on him because they saw a big-game pitcher with spectacular power stuff beginning to mature into more than just a flamethrower.
Already he's stopped a pair of two-game losing streaks for the Yankees, and indeed he gives off the vibe of someone who can throw 98 mph anytime he needs to. When asked about Girardi's feeling that he likes the big stage, Burnett shrugged.
"I've never been in that position," he said. "But I'm always up for it. I feel like I'm at my best when my back's up against the wall, when we go into somebody else's place, and there's a packed house. That brings out the best in me."
For the second straight night here, where folks suddenly love the Rays, there was indeed a packed house, the fans looking for more blood after the rout on Monday night.
Instead they saw a taut pitcher's duel, Matt Garza nearly matching Burnett with seven strong innings.
From the start, however, Burnett looked like a guy who could throw a no-hitter. He mixed his 94-98 mph fastball with hard and soft breaking balls, racking up eight strikeouts in six innings, to go with 10 of the most routine ground balls and fly balls you've ever seen.
He is the rare pitcher to admit how much he was thinking about the no-hitter, as well, laughing that it crossed his mind as early as the third inning.
"You can't not think about it," he said.
In fact, since throwing a no-hitter for the Marlins eight years ago that Burnett calls "embarrassing" because it included nine walks, he said he has had a goal to throw another "to wipe that first one away."
In the end, Burnett couldn't finish it off, leaving an 0-2 curveball up that Carl Crawford slapped to left to lead off the seventh. Candid again, Burnett admitted to a letdown over losing the no-hitter, which may have led to the Rays' two-run rally in that inning to tie the game.
But he showed guts by coming back out after the Yankees took the lead back, 3-2, to pitch a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
"That showed maturity," said Girardi.
It's a word nobody in baseball associated with Burnett for years. He admitted this spring his arm problems were largely the result of his stubbornness in trying to throw every pitch as hard as he could for years, and baseball people wondered if he'd ever grow out of that phase.
Furthermore, one of the knocks on Burnett over the years has been that he's had a tendency to "drift mentally," as one American League scout put it yesterday, and sometimes lose games as a result.
"It's no secret he went out there sometimes and just sort of winged it some days," the scout said. "He seemed to mature some last year, and I don't know if it was because it was his walk year or being around (Blue Jays ace Roy) Halladay for three years finally began to have a positive effect.
"But the thing about him is that he almost always raised his game when he was pitching against the big teams like the Red Sox and the Yankees. I don't know if he can stay healthy, but if he does, I think he'll be a stopper for them."
So far, so good. He still has to prove he can stay healthy, as he finally did in going 18-10 last season, but maybe this is truly the new Burnett, motivated to finally get to the October stage that he was denied in 2003 with the championship Marlins because of an injury.
"I'm definitely looking forward to New York," he said, "but I've never had that postseason stage. That's what we're all here for."
It looks like he's the right guy to lead the way.
