Burnett hammered again in 12-5 loss

BALTIMORE -- Maybe the answer is a simple flip of a calendar page. The Yankees hope so. They don't seem to have much else to go with in the perplexing problem that is A.J. Burnett.

The righthander continued his ineffective ways Friday night, closing out a miserable month in the Yankees' 12-5 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Burnett, who came in 1-1 with a 10.70 ERA in four starts this month, was even worse Friday, allowing nine runs and nine hits in five innings, walking two and throwing three wild pitches. He allowed six straight extra-base hits in a six-run second inning -- home run, double, double, double, double, home run.

Burnett (9-11, 5.31 ERA) is 13-24 with a 5.80 ERA in his last 49 starts. Before his Aug. 15 win, he was 0-8 in August as a Yankee. "We saw him pitch well in the beginning of 2010, then we saw him pitch well the first couple of months [this year],'' Joe Girardi said. "For whatever reason, August has been stinkers. Calendar's going to change eventually and hopefully September's good."

Burnett said he still believes in himself. "It's not acceptable, but the bottom line is I can't worry about my numbers right now," he said. "Even if I pitch great the rest of the year, I'm still going to have bad numbers. I have to get on a track; I'm going to get on a good track. I have a lot of support in this room, and that's what bothers me the most. You feel like you let guys down."

Burnett, who said he needs to start working both sides of the plate better to make up for a decrease in velocity as he's gotten older, and the Yankees will have all day Saturday to chew on Friday's result, likely in their hotel rooms. Hurricane Irene is due to sweep into the city, forcing the postponement of Saturday's split doubleheader. The first game is scheduled to be made up as part of a split doubleheader Sunday -- no sure thing, given the forecast -- and the second game is to be made up Sept. 8.

It was not the schedule the Yankees wanted, as they will lose yet another September off-day, and player representative Curtis Granderson said he didn't find out about it until he was in the on-deck circle and heard it announced on the PA system. He said the Yankees plan to "fight" the decision, though it wasn't immediately clear what recourse they have.

The Yankees hit three home runs off Tommy Hunter: Jorge Posada (No. 12), Alex Rodriguez (No. 14, and his first in 96 at-bats) and Nick Swisher (No. 19).

The sultry night, however, was entirely about Burnett, who went only 11/3 innings last Saturday in Minneapolis. Girardi was steadfast in his defense of Burnett after that game but hedged a bit, Friday night. Asked if Burnett, whose next scheduled start would come next week at Fenway, might benefit from being skipped, Girardi shrugged. "I don't know if we can," he said, referencing the makeup games and doubleheaders that have piled up. "Look at our schedule."

Russell Martin said Burnett's problems of late have come from lack of command of his off-speed pitches. That has allowed hitters to tee off on a fastball that used to hit the mid-to high-90s but not as much anymore.

"He's not the type of guy that has the best command of his offspeed stuff, so hitters are more selective," Martin said. "They wait for fastballs and you get in a fastball count, and you get a fastball that's in the zone to handle, they're going to hit it."

Said Girardi: "I'm frustrated for him. It hurts me when I see people go through struggles. We have to try to fix him."