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NEW YORK — A.J. Burnett is what he is: a guy who will likely be a work in progress up to the day he throws his final pitch in the major leagues. He needs to be reminded about things every now and then, and if he ever needs some affirmation of how good his curveball can be, all he need do is remember the description of it used by Joe Torre last night.
"Intimidating," the New York Yankees' manager said after his team saw its losing string extended to six games with a 6-0 loss to Burnett and the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
"His curveball is intimidating … and his fastball isn't very straight, either."
Burnett and relievers Jeremy Accardo and Scott Downs combined for the win on what was a chilly, windy night, so much so that when infielder John McDonald walked into the dugout for batting practice, he shivered and said, "It feels just like September."
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- Baltimore Orioles
- Boston Red Sox
- New York Yankees
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Jeremy Accardo
- A.J. Burnett
- Scott Downs
- Derek Jeter
- Adam Lind
- Daisuke Matsuzaka
- John McDonald
- Mike Mussina
- Carl Pavano
- Andy Pettitte
- Chien-Ming Wang
- Vernon Wells
But there was no Derek Jeter in the lineup for the Yankees — he was a late scratch with a bruised thigh — and it's hard to think of a September in the Bronx without him in the lineup. But McDonald was right on another level: The game certainly had a sense of significance for the Yankees, who have seen injuries knock out starters Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang and Carl Pavano at one time or another during the first month of the season and who were forced last night to run out one of the game's top pitching prospects, Philip Hughes, who, at 20 years 198 days, was the youngest Yankees pitcher to debut since 18-year-old Jose Rijo in 1984.
Vernon Wells was 3-for-3, with a run scored and a run-scoring double, as the Blue Jays won their third consecutive game after being swept last weekend in Baltimore. Frank Thomas had a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring single, while Alex Rios also singled in a run and Lyle Overbay, 4-for-17 on the trip, contributed a sacrifice fly.
With Roger Clemens's return to the Yankees still more text-message and talk-show fantasy than reality, it was hard to escape the sense that the Yankees went into the game hoping Hughes could do nothing less than turn their season around. He was greeted like a rock star when he walked across the outfield to begin warming up in the bullpen, and the Yankee Stadium crowd sang his name at every opportunity.
But Hughes didn't turn anything around. Not even close. Wearing a uniform number most often seen in spring training — 65 — Hughes stood at the side of the mound as manager Joe Torre came out to take him out of the game.
The body language did not suggest a pitcher unhappy about the move.
Hughes threw 91 pitches and recorded five strikeouts in 41/3 innings — Adam Lind, who likes Hughes figured to be playing Triple A at this time of the season, was the victim on three occasions — and it's clear that the Yankees are in full panic mode about their pitching. In addition to running out a rookie as raw as Hughes, Torre has twice used Andy Pettitte on his throwing day to shore up the bullpen, and seldom has a team been as excited about having a game rained out, as the Yankees were on Wednesday.
That postponement allowed the team to push Pettitte back to tonight's game against the Boston Red Sox and Daisuke Matsuzaka — although the forecast for tonight is not favourable, either.
Burnett (2-1), struck out five and walked four in seven innings and may have surprised some of his teammates and even himself when he kept his composure after home-plate umpire Ed Montague called a close pitch to Bobby Abreu a ball. Burnett walked toward home plate with his arms wide open and Montague ripped off his mask before catcher Jason Phillips interceded. Burnett retired Abreu to end the inning, and recorded three of his five strikeouts after the incident.
"I'm learning to let that stuff go," Burnett said. "In the past I would have let things compound. But I didn't, and he [Montague] stuck with me the rest of the game."
