A.J. Burnett | The Baseball Zealot

Nasty A.J. Dominates Phils, Series Even at One

aj-burnett A.J. Burnett is one of baseball’s nastiest pitchers and he brought his nasty stuff to the mound for game two versus the Phils, against Pedro Martinez. Philadelphia jumped out to an early 2nd inning lead when Matt Stairs’ single(?) under the glove of Alex Rodriguez plated Raul Ibanez, who’d doubled to left with 2 outs. It seemed more like an aberration, rather than a sign of things to come. A.J. is either on or off and he looked on from the start in this one.

Mark Teixeira took a Pedro pitch over the centerfield fence leading off the top of the 4th and the game was knotted at one. Godzilla, or Shemp if you prefer, Hideki Matsui drove one out to right in the 6th, giving New York the 2-1 advantage. Down by a run, Charlie Manuel allowed Martinez to pitch to Jerry Hairston, Jr., and the second guessing began when JH2 hit a soft single to right. Joe Girardi jumped on this opportunity by inserting pinch runner Brett Gardner at first. Gardner went to 3rd on a Melky Cabrera hit to right (for sure Pedro shouldn’t have been allowed to pitch to Melky, but perhaps Manuel was thinking a bunt was in order). That was it for Pedro, when Jorge Posada was announced as the pinch hitter for Jose Molina. Jorge’s single to center off Chan Ho Park gave the Yankees a little insurance now up 3-1.

It seemed insurmountable with A.J. dealing on the mound for the Yanks, and it was. Burnett allowed only 4 hits over 7 innings, striking out 9, before giving way to Mariano Rivera for the two inning save. This game was a pivotal one for the Series, if Philly had won the first two in New York, it would’ve been very tough for the Yankees to comeback. But now with the series at one win apiece, the home field advantage was gone, but the Phillies would need to win three straight in the city of brotherly love in order to maintain that advantage.

ALCS Beat: Yankees back on track

I’m so rope they call me Mr. Roper
When the troubles arise I’m the cool coper
On the mic I score just like the Yankees

“3-Minute Rule” by the Beastie Boys

Yeah, the Yankees score alright. Yet, like any team should, the Angels remain hopelessly positive.

"We’ve got a mountain to climb," said Angels center fielder Torii Hunter. "We’ve just got to know we have to go out there [Thursday] and try to get that win. It’s a must-win. It’s not like we’ve got games left. We can’t go out there and let these guys win. If they do, it’s over with. We’re going to come with a different mindset and try to have some fun and get the job done."

But it ain’t going to be easy. With the Yankees now 3 games to 1, it’s simply going to be an uphill battle that will take a miracle to overcome.

Up until Monday night’s win for the Angels, the playoff series for them has been characterized as ugly and full of mistakes. Not Tuesday night. They were simply out-pitched and out-hit and the Yanks won 10-1. C.C Sabathia is doing his best to outdo ARod in his bid to strip him of MVP of the Series.

On just three days rest, Sabathia almost repeated Game One’s numbers, allowing just one run in eight innings with just five his and two walks. In Game One, he allowed one run in eight innings as well with four hits. For the postseason, C.C. is 3-0.

Alex Rodriguez led the hitting attack, going 3 for 4 with his fifth homer of the fall and 2 rbis and 3 runs scored. Melky Cabrera chipped in with a 3 for 4 performance and four rbis of his own.

The Angels have to be disappointed with their offense till this point. Up until Tuesday night, the starting pitching has held up pretty well. No Halo starter has given up more than three ER until last night (and if you want to pick nits, Kazmir only gave up four but we won’t go there). Had the offense been a little more productive even a little more timely, it would be a different series now.

Tonight’s scheduled pitchers are John Lackey and A.J Burnett. Don’t look for Torii Hunter to have a great night. He’s 2 for 23 lifetime against Burnett. However, those two hits? Homeruns.

ARod is in pretty much in the same boat with Lackey. He’s 9 for 51 (.176) lifetime against Big John. Most of those hits have gone for extras though. One double, one triple and FOUR homeruns.

This is first time I’ve said this publically but…

Go Angels!

Bronx Bombers Land #3 Starter: A.J. Burnett

aj-burnett A.J. Burnett, the 31 year old, 6’5″ righthander out of North Little Rock, Arkansas, picked the perfect time to have his career year, right before becoming a free agent. The Yankees bit, signing Burnett to a five year, $82.5 million dollar deal. A.J., the man with the nasty fastball & the filthy stuff, has had trouble staying healthy, but looked solid in 2008, posting career highs in starts, innings pitched, and wins (34 221′ 18). Before last year the most wins he ever had in a season was 12. Over his ten year big league career, despite his overpowering stuff, his record is only eleven games above .500

If he stays healthy, and that’s a big if (10 trips to the disabled list in 10 years), Burnett should experience success slotted into the #3 position, behind C.C. Sabathia & Chien-Ming Wang. A.J.’s fastball will look like it’s going 200 MPH after hitters bat off Wang’s sinker the day before. This signing still is pending following a physical.