A.J. Awful As Yanks Drop Another to the Sox

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NYY	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	0		4	8	1
CWS	0	6	0	0	1	0	1	6	X		14	17	2

WP - John Danks (9-7)
LP - A.J. Burnett (10-5)
It was another painful day for the Yankees in Chicago, as they were embarrassed by the White Sox 14-4 today for their third straight loss to the White Sox.

On a day where the Yankees needed a big start from A.J. Burnett he had one of his worst games of the season. By the end of the second inning the Yanks were already down 6-0 and the game was all but over. How bad was Burnett today? He walked the number nine hitter twice with the bases loaded, that's how bad. In 4.2 innings pitched he allowed 7 ER on 10 hits, walked 2, and struck out 4.

With a six-run lead and the Yankees lineup filled with weak right-handers - apparently Girardi thought they were facing Randy Johnson in his prime today - they had little chance of coming back. But give some of them credit, they tried.

Several times they had chances to get back in the game, but each time failed to get the big hit needed. Cody Ransom, who for some reason still is on the roster and plays, had three opportunities to get big hits, each time he struck out. Alone he left five men on base today.

(Ransom after one of his four terrific at-bats)

The third time he came up in a big spot came in the top of the sixth with runners on 1st and 2nd with two out in a 6-3 game. Why Joe Girardi didn't pinch-hit with either Eric Hinske, Hideki Matsui, or Johnny Damon is mind-boggling. “We were going to stay with our right-handers. We thought we were chipping away,” Girardi said after the game. “We talked about (pinch hitting), but we didn’t do it.” Well good for you, at least you thought about it. Maybe you should have thought about John Danks' splits before the game. Right-handed batters hit .243 against him. while lefties hit .230. Yes, he handles lefties better but not by that much. Then when you take into account how much better Damon, Matsui and Hinske are than Ransom it should be a no-brainer.

As a team they left eight men on and went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

The bullpen had an up and down day. Brian Bruney was decent over 1.2 innings, but ran out of gas in his second inning of work. He allowed a run on 3 hits, walked 1 and struck out 2. David Robertson pitched OK in his two-thirds of an inning. The good thing about Bruney and Robertson today was that of the five inherited runners on base they were each handed, none of them scored.

Phil Coke was terrible today. In just one-third of an inning he allowed 6 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. He gave way to Mark Melancon who quickly got one of those rare 6-3-5 double plays to end the inning.

The Yankees are now 0-11 against teams with the word "Sox" in their name, and with Boston winning again last night the Yanks lead has now shrunk to just a half-game. And the news doesn't get much better for the Yanks who must now face Mark Buehrle and Roy Halladay in the next two games. They needed a big start from Burnett today and they didn't get, tomorrow they better hope CC Sabathia shows up.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	5	2	2	0	0	0	0	.322
Swisher, RF	4	0	0	0	1	1	2	.236
Teixeira, DH	5	0	2	2	0	0	2	.282
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	1	3	1	0	1	1	.262
Posada, C	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.273
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	1	1	3	.305
Cabrera, Me, CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	4	.283
Hairston, J, LF	3	1	1	1	1	0	2	.255
Ransom, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	3	5	.190
Totals	35	4	8	4	4	7	22
BATTING 2B: Jeter (20, Danks), Rodriguez, A (10, Danks). TB: Jeter 3; Teixeira 2; Rodriguez, A 4; Hairston, J. RBI: Teixeira 2 (77), Hairston, J (28), Rodriguez, A (59). 2-out RBI: Teixeira 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera, Me; Ransom 2; Cano 2. Team RISP: 2-for-13. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Jeter (6, fielding). DP: (Jeter-Ransom-Rodriguez, A).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Burnett, A (L, 10-5)	4.2	10	7	7	2	4	0	3.89
Bruney	1.2	3	1	1	1	2	0	6.10
Robertson, D	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.72
Coke	0.1	4	6	6	3	0	0	4.98
Melancon	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.60

WHITE SOX STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Scott Podsednik (3-for-5, 4 RBI, BB, 2 R)

HONORABLE MENTION: Gordon Beckham (2-for-6, 2B, 4 RBI, R)

GOAT OF THE GAME: A.J. Burnett

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees @ White Sox
Game Time: 2:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
LHP CC Sabathia (10-7, 3.83) vs. LHP Mark Buehrle (11-4, 3.45)