Burnett ineffective again in 9-4 loss to White Sox

CHICAGO - A.J. Burnett delivered another reminder of Andy Pettitte's importance down the stretch, not that the Yankees needed it.

After another poor Burnett outing Friday night in a 9-4 loss to the White Sox, Joe Girardi seemed to be delivering a message. He said that "right now" the rotation will continue as is, but also said it will be "evaluated" after the weekend.

He said something similar earlier in the week in Toronto as it related to Ivan Nova taking Javier Vazquez's start Sunday, but he gave several versions of it Friday night in reference to Burnett. He wouldn't definitively say the righthander will take his next turn. "We'll evaluate after this weekend where we are and what we need to do," Girardi said.

He knew that created more questions than it answered, but he didn't give any more away. "Take it the way you want to take it," he said. "I haven't changed my stance about what I said. I said I'll evaluate where we are after this weekend and we'll do what we have to do."

Burnett, who allowed nine runs (eight earned), eight hits and three walks in 31/3 innings, said "it would surprise me" if he were skipped, but he also isn't under the impression he's pitching well. "It was just a poor effort. You have to do better coming in here," he said. "Especially the first start of the series, I have to set the tone."

The only positive for the Yankees came from Florida, where the Rays lost to the Red Sox, preserving a first-place tie in the AL East. That result, however, allowed Boston to creep within 4½ games.

CC Sabathia is the only starter whom the Yankees seem to be able to count on, which hasn't escaped Girardi or Burnett.

"It's important that he pitch well for us," Girardi said. "Beginning of the year, he pitched well for us, and he's had his struggles. We need him to pitch well."

Said Burnett: "We're in a tight race right now, so that's unacceptable out there. You have to do a better job. Even if you give up four in the first, you have to keep your team in it." That didn't happen, as the White Sox scored four in the first and four in the fourth for a 9-2 lead. The Yankees didn't get much going against Freddy Garcia (11-5), who allowed two runs, five hits and a walk in seven innings.

Burnett (9-12) once was 4-0 with a 1.99 ERA. Since improving to 6-2 on May 30, he has gone 3-10 in 15 starts, allowing 61 earned runs in 80 innings for a 6.86 ERA. He has given up 97 hits, 39 walks and eight hit batsmen in that span.

Burnett has been wildly inconsistent this season - either very good or very bad, and rarely average. After going 0-5 with an 11.35 ERA in June, he was 3-1, 2.00 in July and 0-4, 7.80 in August.

In those 15 starts the past three months, he has had six good ones in which he allowed six earned runs in 40 innings. But in the other nine, he has given up 55 earned runs in 40 innings. "The whole season's been frustrating to me," he said. "Every five days, it's been inconsistencies."

No one is harder on himself than Burnett, but Girardi avoided kid-glove treatment. "I've always said this game can be extremely mental," he said, not mentioning Burnett specifically. "When you're struggling, it can become mental for you. It's tough. You don't want to go out there and get hit around. No one wants to go out there and fail, but guys have learned to overcome that or they wouldn't get to this level. You have to find a way to overcome it."