Yankees lose in extras to Blue Jays

By Gary W. Marchese Jr.

Bronx, NY (July 2) – The New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 6-1.  A.J. Burnett made the start and pitched his first good game in over a month.

Burnett was dreadful in June, this was his first start of July, and it looked like he flipped the calendar.  Burnett pitched six and two third innings giving up no runs on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Damaso Marte faced one batter and got him out.  Joba Chamberlain would give up the lead in the eighth and be booed at the end of the inning.  Chamberlain pitched one inning giving up one run on two hits and a walk.

Mariano Rivera pitched scoreless inning giving up a hit and he struck out one.  The talk after the game was why Girardi did not let him pitch another inning but Rivera had pitched two innings twice in the last road trip and also pitched yesterday.

David Robertson would be tagged with the loss pitching 1 1/3 innings and giving up three hits and four runs with two walks.  Chan Ho Park pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up one hit and one run with a walk and strikeout.

The Yankees scored in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Alex Rodriguez.  They had second and third one out though.  The game really changed in the third inning when the Yankees had the bases loaded no outs and did not score.

Rodriguez and Robinson Cano went down on strikes and Jorge Posada grounded out.  The Yankees had first and second no outs in the sixth but Francisco Cervelli would ground into a double play and Brett Gardner would pop out.  The Yankees did not do anything in the last three innings of the game.

The Yankees offense has gotten to be a problem now but manager Joe Girardi believes they will come out of it.  The more pressing need to him is the bullpen and getting that straightened out.  He knows stars like Teixeira, Rodriguez will start hitting, and they have shown signs of it lately.

The Yankees will try and even the series tomorrow afternoon with Andy Pettitte making the start against Ricky Romero.  The Yankees are still in first place but lead the Boston Red Sox by only half a game in the AL East.  Girardi said “This is the group we have right now, so they have to get it done.”  He was referring to his bullpen.

The story of this game though was A.J. Burnett and him getting back on track.  It was his first start with his pitching coach back and it seemed to make a difference.  If he continues to pitch well now the Yankees will have five solid pitchers and it will be hard for them to lose too many games in a row.

Posted by gmarchesej on July 2, 2010. Filed under News and Sports with Gary W. Marchese Jr.,Sports,US Sports,Yankees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.