First-place Yankees complete sweep of Orioles
Photo credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara | A.J. Burnett (9-4) allowed two runs in seven strong innings, striking out six.
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Yankees vs. Orioles
A.J. Burnett called it a "friendly competition" among the starters.
Joe Girardi referred to it as "passing the baton."
Getting good starting pitching once again, the Yankees continued their second-half roll Wednesday at the Stadium, completing a three-game sweep of the Orioles with a 6-4 victory.
The first-place Yankees (57-37), in winning their sixth straight, reached 20 games over .500 for the first time since September 2007. They hadn't been 20 games over .500 on July 22 since 2004.
"Those kind of things you don't worry about," said Alex Rodriguez, who had two hits and an RBI. "When you're in the middle of July, we're trying to get better. We know what we're capable of doing and we just try to worry about what we do in our house. We're doing a good job and just have to keep going."
The Yankees have recovered well from their lost weekend in Anaheim before the All-Star break, and there's little mystery behind the reason for the success:
"Today A.J. did it and now, who's going to do it tomorrow?" Jorge Posada said of the rotation.
Since Burnett went six innings and allowed three runs - getting a no-decision in a 5-3 victory - against the Tigers in the Yankees' first game back from the break, the rotation has churned out quality start after quality start.
The Yankees have outscored the Tigers and Orioles 23-14 in the six-game surge.
"It's a friendly competition, you want to go out there and do the same job, if not better, than the guy before because that's what we're here for," said Burnett, who allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. "There's no doubt we're feeding off one another."
Burnett (9-4) didn't allow a run over the first six innings. His afternoon was made easier with a four-run lead after the Yankees attacked rookie Jason Berken (1-8) in the first inning.
Derek Jeter sent the first pitch he saw into the gap in left-center for a double, and he scored on Rodriguez's single. Robinson Cano added an RBI infield single and Nick Swisher, whose day in rightfield was somewhat of an odyssey, brought in two more with a single to center.
Posada's 12th home run in the third made it 5-0.
"We got some runs early today," Swisher said, "and with a guy like A.J. on the mound, you give him runs like that, he's going to go out and do his thing, and that's exactly what he did."
The Orioles picked up two runs off Burnett in the seventh. Robert Andino scored on Nick Markakis' sacrifice fly and Adam Jones, who had four hits, came in on Burnett's wild pitch that struck out Aubrey Huff, making it 5-2.
The Yankees added a run in the eighth. Posada smacked a double to left-center to bring in Rodriguez, who singled to start the inning, giving the Yankees a 6-2 lead.
Phil Hughes pitched a scoreless eighth for his 14th straight game without allowing a run. Brian Bruney, who lost his eighth-inning duties shortly after coming off the disabled list, came in for the ninth.
Bruney struck out the first two batters he faced but gave up back-to-back homers to Jones and Markakis, the one sour note for the Yankees in an otherwise well-pitched game. Mariano Rivera struck out Huff for his 28th save.
"The key is pitching and defense, and we've done that over the first six games ," Rodriguez said. "Starting pitching, especially, it's been outstanding."
