A.J., Yanks Cruise Past Jays 4-2

ON THE MOUND:

A.J. Burnett had another great start as he led the Yanks to a 4-2 win over the Blue Jays today in the Bronx. He had his A+ stuff once again today, spotting his 95-97 mph fastball, and curveball had excellent movement and he was throwing it for strikes. In seven innings Burnett allowed two runs on six hits, walked two, struck out seven, and threw 68 of his 112 pitches for strikes.

Burnett really only made on mistake, an 0-2 fastball to Vernon Wells in the sixth that ended up in the left field bleachers.

The first run came in the fourth when Lyle Overbay doubled and then scored on an Alex Rios RBI single.

Through his first nine starts he was 2-2, with a 5.28 ERA. Since then he's 5-2 with a 1.47 ERA, including that rough 2.2 inning outing in Fenway on June 9th. That night in Fenway he said this to the media:?I?m not very consistent right now. I?m not a negative guy, so I?m not going to beat myself up over it. But when I do get on that run, it?s going to be impressive. I promise you that.? Since that game he's 3-1 with an 0.99 ERA.

The Yankees bullpen was very good again. Phil Coke and Phil Hughes combined to pitch a scoreless eighth, then, after A-Rod's insurance Mariano Rivera shut the door with for his 21st save of the year.

THE OFFENSE:

Robinson Cano got the Yanks started when he blasted a solo homer in second off Jays' starter Brian Tallet to put the Yanks on top 1-0. Cano has been red hot lately, hitting .357 over his last seven games, but he's driven in just one run because he's 0 for his last 15 with runners in scoring position. That needs to change.

With the score tied at one in the fifth the Yanks loaded the bases with nobody out for Mark Teixeira. Tallet then walked him on four pitches to force in a run, his third walk of the inning. The Yanks then added another run on a wild pitch and led 3-1. It could of been 4-1 had the UMP called Mark Teixiera safe at home but instead he blew the bang bang call.

In the eighth Alex Rodriguez gave the Yankees some insurance when he launched a solo homer off reliever Jeremy Accardo to extend the Yanks lead to 4-2. A-Rod has five home runs and 14 RBI over the last nine games, in those games the Yanks are 8-1.

THE BOX SCORE:


AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Jeter, SS 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 .310 Damon, LF 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 .287 Teixeira, 1B 3 0 1 1 1 1 1 .275 Rodriguez, A, 3B 3 1 1 1 1 0 4 .237 Cano, 2B 4 1 1 1 0 0 4 .306 Swisher, RF 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .236 Cabrera, Me, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .282 Matsui, H, DH 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .255 Cervelli, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .257 Gardner, CF 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 .286 Totals 30 4 8 3 5 3 16

BATTING
HR: Cano (13, 2nd inning off Tallet, 0 on, 0 out), Rodriguez, A (14, 8th inning off Accardo, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Jeter 2; Damon; Teixeira; Rodriguez, A 4; Cano 4; Matsui, H; Cervelli.
RBI: Cano (43), Teixeira (61), Rodriguez, A (42).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gardner; Cano; Swisher.
Team RISP: 1-for-6.
Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING
CS: Cervelli (2, 2nd base by Tallet/Chavez, R).


IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Burnett, A (W, 7-4) 7.0 6 2 2 2 7 1 3.83 Coke (H, 7) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.15 Hughes, P (H, 3) 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.28 Rivera, Ma (S, 21) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.67
BLUE JAYS STATS
PLAYER OF THE GAME:

A.J. Burnett (W, 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K)
UP NEXT:
Yankees vs. Blue Jays
Game Time: 1:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Chien-Ming Wang (1-6, 10.06) vs. RHP Roy Halladay (10-2, 2.56)

Read The Full Article:
http://adiehardyankeesfan.blogspot.com/2009/07/aj-yanks-cruise-past-jays-4-2.html

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!