Burnett Sharp Again in Yanks 4-2 Win

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
TOR	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0		2	7	0
NYY	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	X		4	8	0

Winning pitcher - A.J. Burnett (7-4)
Losing pitcher - Brian Tallet (5-6)
SV - Mariano Rivera (21)

A.J. Burnett had another great start as he led the Yanks to a 4-2 win over the Blue Jays today in the Bronx. His once again has his A+ stuff today, spotting his 95-97 mph fastball, and curveball had excellent movement and he was throwing it for strikes. In seven innings Burnett allowed two runs on six hits, walked two, struck out seven, and threw 68 of his 112 pitches for strikes. Burnett really only made on mistake, an 0-2 fastball to Vernon Wells in the sixth that ended up in the leftfield bleachers. The first run came in the fourth when Lyle Overbay doubled and then scored on an Alex Rios RBI single.

Through his first nine starts he was a very unimpressive 2-2, with a 5.28 ERA. Since then he's 5-2 with a 1.47 ERA, and that includes that rough 2.2 inning outing in Fenway on June 9th. That night in Fenway he said this to the media:“I’m not very consistent right now. I’m not a negative guy, so I’m not going to beat myself up over it. But when I do get on that run, it’s going to be impressive. I promise you that.” Since that game he's 3-1 with an 0.99 ERA.

Robinson Cano got the Yanks scoring strated when he blasted a solo homer in second off Jays' starter Brian Tallet to put the Yanks on top 1-0. Cano has been red hot lately, hitting .357 over his last seven games, but he's driven in just one run because he's o for his last 15 with runners in scoring position. How is it possible to be on that kind of roll and still be unable to hit with runners on? Should we start getting concerned?

With the score tied at one in the fifth the Yanks loaded the bases with nobody out for Mark Teixeira. Tallet then walked him on four pitches to force in a run, his third walk of the inning. The Yanks then added another run on a wild pitch and led 3-1. They didn't do as much damage as they should have, but it turned out to be enough for today.

In the eighth Alex Rodriguez gave the Yankees some insurance when he launched a solo homer off reliever Jeremy Accardo to extend the Yanks lead to 4-2. A-Rod has five home runs and 14 RBI over the last nine games, in those games the Yanks are 8-1.

The Yankees bullpen was very good again. Phil Coke and Phil Hughes combined to pitch a scoreless eighth, then, after A-Rod's insurance Mariano Rivera shut the door with for his 21st save of the year.

With Chien-Ming Wang going up against Roy Halladay, tomorrow's pitching matchup does look too promising if you're a Yankees fan. Hopefully Wang has his best game of the year and the Yanks figured out a way to put a couple runs on the board against Halladay.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	.310
Damon, LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.287
Teixeira, 1B	3	0	1	1	1	1	1	.275
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	1	1	1	1	0	4	.237
Cano, 2B	4	1	1	1	0	0	4	.306
Swisher, RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.236
Cabrera, Me, RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.282
Matsui, H, DH	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	.255
Cervelli, C	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.257
Gardner, CF	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	.286
Totals	30	4	8	3	5	3	16
BATTING HR: Cano (13, 2nd inning off Tallet, 0 on, 0 out), Rodriguez, A (14, 8th inning off Accardo, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Jeter 2; Damon; Teixeira; Rodriguez, A 4; Cano 4; Matsui, H; Cervelli. RBI: Cano (43), Teixeira (61), Rodriguez, A (42). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gardner; Cano; Swisher. Team RISP: 1-for-6. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING CS: Cervelli (2, 2nd base by Tallet/Chavez, R). IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Burnett, A (W, 7-4) 7.0 6 2 2 2 7 1 3.83 Coke (H, 7) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.15 Hughes, P (H, 3) 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.28 Rivera, Ma (S, 21) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.67

BLUE JAYS STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: A.J. Burnett (W, 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K)

HONORABLE MENTION: Mariano Rivera (S, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K - plus he's been lights-out lately)

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees vs. Blue Jays
Game Time: 1:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS

RHP Chien-Ming Wang (1-6, 10.06) vs. RHP Roy Halladay (10-2, 2.56)