A.J. Burnett has been nothing short of atrocious for the vast majority of the season, and tonight was no exception. The anomalous righty allowed seven earned over 2.1 IP, struggled to find the strikezone, gave up hard contact, and seemed to have no discernible movement on his pitches. Since his excellent run to open the season (that's right, he had a 1.99 ERA, 2.5 K/BB, and four quality starts in his first six outings), Burnett has a 6.30 ERA over his last 140 IP. That includes 162 H, 65 BB, and only 112 K. His FIP over that time sits at around 5.36, to boot, meaning that there's really no way to place an optimistic spin on the last four-plus months. The idea of him starting a game in the postseason makes me shudder, regardless of his fine performance last Fall. Here's hoping something clicks.
I'm quite certain that many are going to fault the Yankees offense for this game, but it's difficult to dig out of such a deep hole. Marc Rzepczynski may not be a household name, but his stuff is very good, and that was on display tonight. It seems as if Toronto has the Yankees number this season, and their 9-7 record against the pinstriped patsies is indicative of that. Granted, the Blue Jays have a very good team - one that could likely fight for a playoff spot in any other division ... but this feels like a season series the Yankees should have won, rather than one that they'd be fighting to tie Tuesday and Wednesday.
Player of the Game: Marc Rzepczynski, Vernon Wells
Honorable Mention: John Buck
Dishonorable Mention: A.J. Burnett