When A.J. Burnett (0-0), of the Blue Jays, is on (in the words of Mike Mussina), “he’s as tough as anybody.” And that is what the Yankees faced today. A.J. Burnett looked as good as he has ever looked, and showed the pitcher he can be if he can stay on the field healthy. He shut the offense down by allowing only 2 runs on five hits in six plus innings. He basically gave no room for error, until his last pitch of the day, a 2-run shot by A-Rod, getting them 2 runs closer, and avoiding a shut out. All said Burnett was the hero on this day, and made shadows over the nice performance given by Mike Mussina (0-0).
“I wasn’t disappointed in it,” Mussina told Brian Hoch of MLB.com. “It felt good throwing the baseball. I just made some mistakes, and they took advantage of it. If I have that stuff 30 times, I’ll be fine.”
“I thought he used his breaking ball well, and I thought his fastball was pretty good tonight,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I thought he was locating well. I liked what I saw.”
That seems to be the overall opinion of his 5 2/3 innings performance today. He struck out 2, walked 2, and gave up 8 hits and 4 runs (3 earned). With an offensive threat that is a perennial staple in New York this kept them close enough to be within striking distance at any point, and almost capitalized on a 9th inning little burst that almost resulted in some runs.
Vernon Wells went yard in the 3rd inning, for his first of the year, a 2 run blast to left field, and gave the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead, which proved to be enough in this one. The New York Yankees fall to the great pitching performance of A.J Burnett, and the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 at Yankee Stadium today.
