Yankee Talk: Rivalry Edition – Burnett bashed in Beantown

Yanks dominated again, fall to 0-6 against Sawx

BOSTON – One of these days, the Yankees are going to find a way to beat the Red Sox.

The date is to be determined.

It may have to be in Little League or in a Playstation or Xbox game for this to happen.

On the Major League level, it is the Red Sox wielding the hammer and no matter what the Yankees do, they are still finding themselves playing the role of nail, and a cut below their friends from Boston despite what the standings say.

They came into the series saying that wanted to send a message to their blood rivals. If last night was any indication, the only message that they sent was they are still chasing Boston.

For the sixth time this season, the Yankees fell to Red Sox. They entered Fenway Park just the way they left it back in April. This time falling decisively 7-0 to the Red Sox in another uninspiring, humiliating performance in this suddenly one sided version of The Rivalry.

It was a game that showed that despite all the strides made in the last month and the games made up on Boston, there is still a sizable gap between the two teams.

For AJ Burnett, the man brought in by the Yankees and paid a handsome $82.5 million to do so, once again proved to be a Fenway Flop.

Matched up with Red Sox ace Josh Beckett again, Burnett outdid his awful performance he had back on April 25 when he coughed up a 6-0 lead by following it up with last night’s 2 2/3 inning egg, allowing five runs, five hits and five walks in 84 painful to watch pitches.

For the man that loves to serenade his teammates with pies, it was Burnett himself who appeared to have whip cream in his eyes and had problems seeing where the strike zone was.

Trouble for Burnett began right at the start when he fell behind both the leadoff hitter Dustin Pedroia and J.D Drew with 3-0 and 2-0 counts. Though he recorded outs and pitched a scoreless first inning, it was obvious that he was having command problems, particularly with his fastball.

The second inning saw even more command problems. After walking Mike Lowell to lead off the inning, Burnett grooved a 2-2 fastball over the plate that David Ortiz crushed to centerfield for a two-run homer.

Later in the inning after a four pitch walk to Mark Kotsay (playing in place of Jacoby Ellsbury), Alex Rodriguez could not control a chopper hit by shortstop Nick Green who reached base. On an 0-2 pitch, J.D Drew cranked a double of the Green Monster in left field to drive in both runs to make it 4-0 as Burnett’s pitch count continued to rise.

It would mercifully end in the third as he hopelessly continued to aim his fastball that betrayed him on this night. He walked Lowell to lead off the inning, and after Kotsay singled to right, manager Joe Girardi (like the rest of us) had seen enough. Of his 84 pitches, only 40 were strikes.

The numbers for the Yankees “other” prized right-hander in The Rivalry are downright ugly. In two starts covering 7 2/3 innings, he’s allowed 13 runs, 13 hits and 8 walks, equating to an ERA of 11.43.

Meanwhile, Beckett did not have any such problems and cruised through the night. He was utterly dominant and in complete control, throwing six innings of one hit ball.

The Yankees did not get their first hit until the fourth inning when Robinson Cano reached on an infield single. Only one base runner (Mark Teixeira) reached second base in Beckett’s outing.

93 pitches was all it took for the Boston ace who is now 5-0 in his last seven starts with a 1.70 ERA in 47 2/3 innings. He had pinpoint control of all of his pitches, utilizing both his two and four seam fastballs along with his off speed pitches to stifle Yankee bats all night long.

Red Sox Manager Terry Francona felt very confident in the game that he chose not to bring him out for the seventh inning. Instead, he gave the final nine outs to statistically, the best bullpen in baseball.

The combination of Manny Delcarmen, Ramon Ramirez and Daniel Bard got the final nine outs; each pitcher throwing harder than the other. Bard came into the game in the ninth inning, blew Yankee hitters away with a fastball touching 98, and in the final at bat against Robinson Cano, reached 100 MPH.

Brett Tomko entered the game after Burnett departed in the third and held the game at 5-0. In the fourth, Lowell made it 6-0, driving home Kevin Youkilis who had singled to lead off the inning and then stole second base while Jason Bay was at the plate (Bay would later walk).

In a game where Mariano Rivera was not available due to pitching the last three days, he did not have to worry about moving from his seat in the bullpen. Tomko pitched 2 1/3 innings, followed up Jose Veras (two innings,) who allowed a solo home run to Nick Green in the seventh and David Robertson (one inning)

On the night, the Yankees managed only two hits. Despite sitting Hideki Matsui, the team fielded its full lineup for the first time against Boston and was unable to generate any type of offense.

Credit Beckett and the Red Sox for that.

Chien-Ming Wang takes the ball for the Yankees tomorrow night, while knuckleballer Tim Wakefield gets the start for the Red Sox.