Girardi: It was A.J.'s best start of year

A.J. Burnett was still kicking himself as he came off the mound in the eighth inning for issuing his only walk of the night to his final hitter.

"I'm always angry coming out of a game," he said, and there could certainly have been some disappointment after Burnett pitched extremely well and still took the loss in a 1-0 defeat.

But all in all, it was positive for Burnett, who struck out a season-high eight, allowing five hits and just the one run. It was the third time this season he's allowed one run in a start, and he's 0-2 in those outings.

"It was arguably his best start of the year," Joe Girardi said. "I thought he was outstanding."

That was a sharp contrast to his start against the Red Sox on Wednesday, when Burnett allowed a season-high seven earned runs in 52/3 innings. With Bartolo Colon on the shelf indefinitely, last night's start took on even greater importance for the sometimes fragile Burnett.

But he had command of "pretty much everything," including his sweeping curveball that had Francisco Cervelli hopping around behind the plate. Burnett said his only mistakes were a pair of curveballs -- one that hung too much to Asdrubal Cabrera in the fourth that Cabrera grounded between third and short into leftfield, scoring Michael Brantley with the game's only run, and then a full-count curve in the dirt to walk Brantley in the eighth and bring Girardi out of the dugout.

"[The curve] was pretty good," Burnett said. "The only one that was really bad was to Brantley, it missed by about 4 feet."

Burnett said his lousy start against the Red Sox could have been the result of two extra days of rest. He was back on normal rest for last night and it showed.

"It's a big difference to do my normal routine," he said. "When you get two [or] three extra days off, it's tough to repeat yourself. I was able to repeat myself tonight."

Not even a late change at catcher upset him. Russell Martin was pulled with back stiffness an hour before first pitch, but Burnett made it work with Cervelli. The two got crossed up with a runner on second and two outs in the seventh, when Burnett grooved a 93-mph four-seamer that clipped Cervelli's glove and mask.

"That was all me. Just saw something that wasn't there," Burnett said. "[Cervelli's] a gamer. He hung in there."

So did Burnett, who looked like he was going to get plenty of support when the Yankees loaded the bases in the first with no one out. But the Yankees were shut out for the third time this season, and second time when Burnett pitched a gem -- he went eight innings and allowed only three hits in a 2-0 loss to the White Sox on April 25.

But with a pitcher injured, Burnett did more than enough last night.

"He pitched a great game," Brett Gardner said. "It's a shame we wasted a great start like that."