Baumbach: It's time for Burnett to show his 'A' game

Even before A.J. Burnett gave one of his better outings in a while, his rotation spot wasn't exactly in jeopardy. That's what Joe Girardi said three hours before Burnett's first pitch last night, and the Yankees manager's explanation made perfect sense.

"A.J. is a guy we need, and we need him to pitch at a high level," Girardi said. "So it's important that we get him going."

If the Yankees were in a more tenuous situation in the standings, say, staring at a month's worth of must-win games to qualify for the postseason, then you can bet Burnett's rotation spot wouldn't have been such a certainty entering last night's game.

But the reality is, the Yankees are in a comfortable situation. And undoubtedly they realize they have a chance to take advantage of their position and start priming themselves for postseason play, even if they can't exactly say as much and, you know, run the risk of jinxing themselves.

So while Burnett took the mound last night not to save his job, he kicked off a month's worth of important starts that will be dissected from every angle. By fans, the media, and, most importantly, the Yankee decision-makers. This is his chance to turn around his season.

Facing the Oakland Athletics, Burnett began this important stretch of evaluative starts on a strong note. He looked sharper than he has in a while, allowing three runs and six hits and walking two in six innings.

Of course we have a responsibility to point out, for the purpose of putting Burnett's performance in some perspective, that the A's field one of the American League's worst offensive teams this season. Of the league's 14 teams, they started the game ranked tenth in batting average and on-base percentage and 13th in home runs and slugging percentage.

But while no one is going to proclaim Burnett cured of his summer pitching woes, you can certainly say this was a strong start. That's important, as these next four or five starts could go a long way in telling us what kind of role Burnett will play in this team's pursuit of their second straight championship.

"Let's not forget A.J. has won some big ballgames for us," Girardi said. "We can go to Game 2 of the World Series where he was dominant. We need A.J. to pitch well for us and we're going to do everything we can to get him on track and on a roll."

The Yankees know their best chances come October is with dominant starting pitching, much like they had back in April and May. And it's not hard to recall memories of Burnett baffling hitters when he started his second season in pinstripes 4-0 with a 1.99 ERA in 402/3 innings.

But then there's this other version of Burnett, the one that is so frustrating to watch. His struggles usually begin with an inconsistent fastball, the Yankees say, and then it only gets worse. Typically he loses his control and ultimately gets hit hard.

That guy, much to the Yankees' frustration, has been around for much of the summer.

In his last 15 starts before last night, Burnett was 3-10 with a 6.86 era, having allowed 97 hits and walked 39 walks in 80 innings. Opponents were hitting .304 with a .390 on-base percentage and .508 slugging percentage.

So instead of baffling hitters, Burnett was baffling the Yankees, who just couldn't get him right. But now is no time to look backward. Not when the Yankees know their best chances next month include the guy they thought they were getting for $82.5 million two winters ago.

They have one month to find him. Last night was a good start.