Girardi: Big start for Burnett
New York Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett wipes sweat from his face after giving up a home run against the Baltimore Orioles' Mark Reynolds (12) in the second inning during a baseball game in Baltimore. (Aug. 26, 2011) Credit: AP
BALTIMORE -- The general manager didn't give A.J. Burnett a ringing endorsement Saturday, and neither did the manager Sunday morning.
Joe Girardi said that after the upcoming series against Boston, with no doubleheaders on the immediate horizon, his plan is to get back to a five-man rotation. Burnett -- 1-5 with a 7.79 ERA in his last nine starts after allowing nine runs in five innings Friday -- is scheduled to start Thursday's series finale at Fenway Park after CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes start the first two games.
"We need him to pitch better, that's the bottom line," Girardi said before the Yankees' 2-0 loss to the Orioles in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. "Yeah, Thursday is a big start."
It remains to be seen what that means. Burnett could stay in the rotation, get skipped a start or be shifted to the bullpen.
After Friday's outing, Burnett said he needs to pitch inside more to make up for the reality that his fastball -- which once peaked in the high 90s -- has fallen off a bit. "You'd like to be able to say a guy that comes up when he's 25 can pitch the exact same way until he's 40, or 35," Girardi said. "Doesn't happen. You have to make adjustments."
Sitting around
Yankees players kept mostly to their hotel during Saturday's hurricane, spending the day and night either in their rooms or in the makeshift rec room.
Girardi said those whose families were in New York didn't experience any major problems from Hurricane Irene.
Jeter: Record, scratched
Derek Jeter started at DH in the first game and passed Mickey Mantle by playing in his franchise-record 2,402nd game. He was in the initial Game 2 lineup but was scratched because of a knee contusion. In his second at-bat of Game 1, he fouled a pitch off his right knee before lining an apparent hit to right that became a forceout when Francisco Cervelli was thrown out at second. He played the rest of the game.
