"I look at it as a chance to get my team a win ... a very big one," Burnett said. "I had good games, bad games during the season. You can say the same thing about the postseason, but you can't count me out. I'm going to bring everything I've got, and just let A.J. loose out there.A.J. wasn't great, but was solid in his two starts against the Tigers during the regular season, going 1-1, with a 3.75 ERA. In 14.2 innings, he allowed 5 earned runs on 9 hits, walked 5 and struck out 14.
"Like I said, it's an important game. It's going to be more important depending on the outcome (of Game 3), but I can't do anything to change the season. But I can help my team to win. I'm going to do that the best I can."
Confidence has never been the issue with Burnett, and he said as much.
"Believe it or not, I have pretty good confidence every start," he said. "I try to go out and believe I can throw a no-hitter. Even last year when I couldn't get out of the first inning, I took the mound the next start with belief. And I did so this year. If I don't do that, then I don't make it where I am now. I don't have the few good starts towards the end (of the season) if I don't stay that way."
His history includes Game 2 of the 2009 World Series in which he held Philadelphia to one run on four hits in seven innings.
He said he would probably watch the video of that outing Monday night.
"More than likely," Burnett said. "I do have it on the computer. I haven't watched in a while, probably not since last year. I watch a lot of video. That would definitely be a good one to watch, for sure."
- April 5 vs. DET (first start of '11): 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
- May 5 @ DET: 7 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K - The Yankees committed three errors on the day.
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Miguel Cabrera | 14 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .214 | .214 | .357 | .571 |
| Victor Martinez | 27 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | .259 | .412 | .444 | .856 |
| Magglio Ordonez | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | .214 | .353 | .500 | .853 |
| Jhonny Peralta | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | .231 | .267 | .538 | .805 |
| Delmon Young | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .214 | .267 | .286 | .552 |
I'm still not too confident, but at least there are a few things in his favor.
Also, it wouldn't hurt AJ and the Yankees if A-Rod and Tex decided to show up. It's not too easy to score runs and win when two of your run producers are a combined 1-for-21.