Bad A.J. digs early hole for Yankees

AJ. Burnett had two choices to turn his team back in the right direction and placate his rabid fan base last night:

A. He could've knocked David Ortiz on his rear end, or at least plunked him somewhere on his lower half.

B. He could've simply pitched well to Big Papi and gotten him out.

The Yankees' mercurial righthander chose, of course, C. He threw a Bronx party for Ortiz and the Red Sox, moving the Yankees down to second place in the American League East.

Remember when the Yankees tried to sell us on the notion that Burnett was a Red Sox-killer? Yeesh. Following the Yankees' 11-6 loss to Boston at Yankee Stadium, featuring a first-inning, two-run homer by Ortiz, Burnett is now winless in his last nine starts against the Red Sox -- eight of those in a Yankee uniform -- going 0-4 with an 8.01 ERA. "He's struggled against them with us, a little bit," Joe Girardi understated, a lot. "You never know exactly what the reason is and why it is . . . It always comes down to command. It's what it really comes down to."

Burnett, not at all pleased to hear once more how well he handled the Red Sox during his Blue Jays years, snapped at YES' Kim Jones: "I'm not in Toronto anymore. So I'm tired of hearing that. That's just retarded. OK?

"If anything's different, I made pitches in Toronto. I didn't make pitches tonight. That's the most stupid thing I ever heard."

The Yankees endured quite a stormy day, coming off Tuesday's 6-4 loss to Boston by putting Joba Chamberlain (strained right flexor muscle) on the disabled list and scratching catcher Russell Martin with back pain.

Leave it to Bad A.J. -- "2010 A.J.," if you prefer -- to show up and perform the equivalent of opening the Yankees' window, thereby allowing the storm to exact even more damage on this humid night.

With Francisco Cervelli replacing Martin behind the plate, Burnett allowed eight runs (seven earned) and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking four and striking out three. He gave the Yankees' offense no chance to rev up, as Ortiz's first-inning blast to rightfield capped a three-run frame for the Red Sox.

Burnett said he wasn't aware of Ortiz's bat flip heard 'round the world from Tuesday night and therefore didn't have revenge on his mind as he faced Boston's fifth hitter. Although, Cervelli said, the intent was to throw an inside fastball with the count full, and Ortiz sent it to the heavens when the ball caught too much of the plate.

The Yankees tried to scratch back against Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield and former teammate Alfredo Aceves, yet Brett Gardner committed a critical baserunning error when he didn't score from third on Aceves' wild pitch in the sixth. Derek Jeter followed with an inning-ending, 5-4-3 double play.

Girardi cast some heavy blame on Gardner. However, the most blame should go to the guy making $16.5 million who put his club in a 7-0 hole. "We had two pitchers going on seven days' [rest]," Burnett said, referring to both himself and Tuesday's losing pitcher Freddy Garcia. "I mean, that's not easy to do, first of all. I don't care who you are. It's a lot easier to go five days and stay on your routine."

Ay yi yi.

Sometimes, a club just really needs a veteran pitcher to carry it on its back, even for a few innings. To guide it through a tough spot and maybe even do some dirty work.

Bad A.J. can't handle that. He left the mound last night with his club teetering toward another round of panic from the fan base.