Best-laid plans doused by rain

'You cannot fight Mother Nature," Joe Girardi said Friday night, which leads to this natural follow-up: Who would've guessed that Mother Nature is an A.J. Burnett fan?

The Yankees kicked off their postseason in fittingly wacky fashion, getting in just an inning and a half before . . . yes, rain. Surprisingly strong rain. Which means that American League Division Series Game 1 against the Tigers will resume Saturday night, with Game 2 pushed to Sunday and no travel day between Games 2 and 3.

(Unless it rains again Saturday, a decent possibility, in which case they'd play Games 1 through 5 on consecutive days, Sunday through Thursday. Getting all of this?)

The bad weather blows up the Yankees' plans to utilize only three starting pitchers.

It'll be Ivan Nova "relieving" CC Sabathia in Game 1, Girardi said, and Freddy Garcia starting Game 2. Sabathia figures to start Monday's Game 3 (at Comerica Park) on two days' rest after his shortened outing -- he said he will try to convince Girardi to let him start Game 2, but Girardi seemed adamantly opposed to that -- and that leaves no one but Burnett for Tuesday's Game 4.

"A.J. is obviously the most stretched out for us in that situation," Girardi said.

Phil Hughes? Given his back issues, the Yankees have made clear their preference to keep him in the bullpen. Bartolo Colon? Not on the roster. Neither is Hector Noesi.

Yankees fans shouldn't throw up their arms and surrender, however. Not when they realize that the Tigers already had slated Rick Porcello for Game 4, and that Porcello's 2011 season has been pretty similar to Burnett's. Which is to say it has been terrible.

If you're looking for some sort of immediate impact from this development, here's one: The Tigers started their righthanded lineup against the lefty-throwing Sabathia, with Magglio Ordoñez hitting second and playing rightfield, Ryan Raburn hitting seventh and playing second base and Brandon Inge hitting ninth and playing third base.

With the righty-throwing Nova now taking over, Leyland said he won't go to his lefty-hitting platoon of Andy Dirks in right, Ramon Santiago at second base and Wilson Betemit at third base. "I'm not going to change my lineup in the bottom of the second inning tomorrow," Leyland said. "There could be a point where a pinch hitter could be a factor."

For the most part, though, "This is not a big deal," Leyland said. "Everybody does the best they can. Everybody is kind of scurrying around right now. There's no sense getting excited. It's the way it is."

To which we say: It's the postseason! We get excited about everything that happens!

Burnett's last postseason start came in Game 4 of the 2010 ALCS against Texas. He led 3-2 after five innings, in position to win the game, only to fall apart in a three-run Rangers sixth.

Evidence from Burnett's recent starts indicates that Girardi now appreciates he must exhibit a quick hook with the implosion-prone Burnett. Especially because he has a deep bullpen and an offense capable of scoring runs -- particularly against Porcello.

"This club has been resilient all year long and has had to overcome some obstacles," Girardi said. "This might be another one."

Some obstacles arrive self-inflicted, some set by opponents, and others by factors completely out of the team's control.

This falls into the last category. On first blush, this shouldn't hurt the Yankees too much. Yet we have as many as 43½ innings to go, not including extras, and about that many weather forecasts to monitor.

In other words, this might be the first obstacle of an entire course.