Burnett Comes Up Empty in Fenway Again
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |  | R | H | E | |
| NY Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | |
| Boston | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | X | 14 | 15 | 0 |
WP – Tazawa (2-2) LP – Burnett (10-7)
All that was missing was a Tarzan yell and Harvey Korman. Otherwise I would have been convinced that Carol Burnett, not A.J. Burnett, was on the hill for the Yankees this afternoon. Fenway Park has been the bane of Burnett’s 2009 existence. He was ripped to shreds for the 3rd time in the not-so friendly confines in a 14-1 Red Sox blow out. Burnett has now allowed 20 earned runs in 12.2 innings in Beantown this year.
When the Yankees put two aboard with one out in the first against Boston starter and winner Junichi Tazawa, it appeared the Yankees bats were going to pick up where they left off Friday night. But Tazawa retired Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui to end the threat, and it was all Boston after that. The Red Sox immediately jumped on Burnett for 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st, 2 of them on a David Ortiz double. And there was no letting up after that. Alex Gonzalez opened the 2nd inning scoring by hitting his first Red Sox home run since 2006. Kevin Youkilis went deep with two aboard later in the inning and just like that Boston had opened a 7-0 lead.
More of the same would follow as Burnett, Al Aceves, and David Robertson gave up 15 hits, including another home run by Youkilis as well as Ortiz’ 20th home run of the year.
Tazawa won his second game of the year with 6 scoreless innings, the Yankees finally breaking through on Nick Swisher’s solo home run off Daniel Bard in the 7th inning. Even though they were down by a wide margin early, the Yankees had 12 hits and a number of opportunities. They just couldn’t cash in any of them. Tazawa kept the potent Yankees lineup off balance with a mix of breaking pitches and low 90’s fastballs and the Yankees didn’t help themselves out either. Robinson Cano was thrown out trying for a double in the 2nd when he didn’t break hard out of the box. Instead of 1st or 2nd and 3rd with no one out, the Yankees settled for a man on 3rd with one out. But Erick Hinske hit into bad luck by lining out to Victor Martinez at 1st base and Melky Cabrera flew out.
Speaking of Hinske, I have to wonder what Joe Girardi was thinking in playing in him left field after his disastrous display on Friday night. After watching him misplay one ball after another, one has to wonder how he played nearly 30 games in front of the Monster when he was a member of the RedSox. Girardi should have used the more versatile Jerry Hairston Jr. to replace Johnny Damon in the lineup. Girardi already had plenty of pop in the order to make up for Damon’s absence. Of course, when you give up 14 runs, your own lineup generally doesn’t matter much.
Game Notes
As expected, Johnny Damon sat out with a bruised knee after fouling a pitch off himself Friday night. But he told reporters he will return to the starting lineup for the series finale in prime time on Sunday. CC Sabathia faces Josh Beckett in a highly anticipated match up.
Jacoby Ellsbury tied Tommy Harper’s team record for steals Friday night when he swiped his 54th base of the season. Kevin Youkilis tied a career high with 6 RBI on Saturday.
Derek Jeter was 0-3, snapping an 8-game hitting streak in which he collected 19 hits.
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