Bad inning does in Yanks

We’ve seen both Good A.J. and Bad A.J. in various starts throughout the season, but rarely do we glimpse both in the same. That’s what we got today. Bad A.J. was as bad as he gets. Good A.J. was good for about four innings, but those came after Bad A.J. had staked the Orioles to a sizable lead. Combine that with a flat offense, and it’s a recipe for a loss.

Things looked optimistic from the outset. A.J. got a little help from a double play ball to escape the first, and the Yanks offense went to work. It wasn’t overpowering. Just a soft liner to left by Jeter, a steal of second, a bunt over to third, and a sac fly. They’d probably need more, but it was a good start. A-Rod tried to keep it going with a double, but the Nick Swisher couldn’t get a base hit to bring him home. That’ll happen.

Burnett wasted no time in giving back the lead, as Nolan Reimold took him deep to left field. It was an absolute fat pitch, one a hitter like Reimold, the rookie leader in home runs, is going to park more often than not. With that out of the way, maybe A.J. could just work through the lineup and hope the Yanks offense could put up a few more against Matusz. That was not to be, on either account.

After striking out Luke Scott, a walk and three straight singles plated another run and left the bases loaded. Brian Roberts then dealt the decisive blow, sending a pitch into the Yanks bullpen and putting his team out in front 6-1. A.J. managed to get the next two batters to end the inning, and in fact retired eight straight after the homer. Too bad it’s impossible to erase those runs from the board.

In the course of those eight straight, Burnett lucked out a couple of times. In the third Luke Scott and Matt Wieters both seemed to just miss pitches, flying out deep to Jerry Hairston and Melky Cabrera. It wasn’t until the fourth that he really settled down, and even then he had some trouble in the fifth, surrendering a leadoff double to Brian Roberts. He’d settle down and finish the inning unscathed.

Seven innings, six runs is not a good line by any measure. Burnett let one bad inning ruin an otherwise pretty damn good start. He pitched through the seventh, and in innings other than the second he allowed just three men to reach base. He kept his pitch count down, throwing just 108 pitches in those seven innings, which is all the more remarkable because he threw 42 in the second. He issued only two walks, though he managed to strike out only four.

This kind of start, of course, will not fly in the playoffs. It won’t fly in any kind of meaningful situation. Thankfully, the Yankees are still well out in front in the AL East and can afford a few bad games, even if they’re against the last place team in said division. Better now than in October. And, again, at least there were some positives to take from the game, even though the general outcome was starkly negative.

After the manufactured run in the first, the Yanks offense flailed against Brian Matusz. After A-Rod’s double in the first, they didn’t pick up a hit until Teixeira singled in the sixth. They didn’t put a runner on second until an inning later, and didn’t score again until the ninth, when they staged a mini rally that came up far short. But, as Paul O’Neill likes to say, they showed some fight in a blowout. Let’s see if they can build off that tomorrow.

The Yanks look to avoid their first sweep since early May tomorrow afternoon, as CC Sabathia goes against Jeremy Guthrie. I’d rather look forward to that one than harp on this one.