A.J. Burnett Still Not Having Fun; Yankees Lose, 6-4

A.J. Burnett appeared on the mound tonight sporting a new bleach-blonde hair color and, for five innings, it looked like he was finally having as much fun as his care-free hair style.  Then, using the pitcher's usual modus operandi, he unravelled in his inimitable style.  The much-maligned New York Yankees righthander was coasting through the Los Angeles Angels line-up until the wheels came off  once again.

Up until the fateful sixth inning, Burnett had confidence, control and his fastball was working like a charm.  He allowed three hits and it looked like his "I have to find a way to have fun" theory on winning was working.  For a pitcher who hadn't won a game since June 29, all signs looked positive and Burnett had finally turned the corner on his losing ways.

Then he turned into Bad-A.J..  In the sixth, Burnett gave up a home-run to former-Yankee Bobby Abreu, which tied the score, 1-1, then he walked Mark Trumbo on a 4-0 count.  The slow-footed Trumbo tagged up to second on a long Vernon Wells fly to centerfield.  Manager Joe Girardi then had Burnett intentionally walk the next batter, Maicer Izturis, and, like a premonition, had his bullpen start getting busy.

In typical Burnett fashion, the pitcher walks Peter Bourjus, loading the bases, and the Yankees bullpen really got into full gear.

Next, facing Jeff Mathis, a .181 hitter, Burnett abandoned his 94 mph fastball and threw a slider.  Mathis bouces the ball over the outfield fence for a ground-rule double and the Angels take a 3-1 lead.  Burnett wasn't through making his life miserable just yet.  For an encore, his next pitch goes into the dirt in front of catcher Russell Martin and Bourjus scores from third to give the Angels a 4-1 advantage.

It was a league-leading 15th wild pitch for Burnett and it continued the struggling pitcher's 0-8 record in August as a Yankee.  Amazingly, that makes it three August moons without a victory in pinstripes.

More groans than boos filled Yankee Stadium for about the umpteenth time and Burnett was through for the night.

His final line was six innings, six hits, four earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts, but the most glaring stat was the four runs in one inning on two hits.

Cody Wade came into  mop up for Burnett in the seventh and struck out the Angels side and gave up one hit.

Meanwhile, Angels starter Dan Haren was mowing down the flat Yankees until Derek Jeter's two-out double knocked in Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner to tie the game at 4-4.

Mariano Rivera began the ninth inning by allowing a two out hit and then faced a patient Abreu, who drove a flat cutter from Rivera into the seats for his second home-run of the night and a 6-4 Angels lead.

The Yankees threatened in the ninth, but with two outs and Curtis Granderson  on first, the Yankees centerfielder-- in a what-were-you-thinking moment--  inexplicably got caught in a run-down to end the game with slugger Mark Teixeira at the plate.

For Rivera, it was his second blown game in a row.  On Sunday, he got his fifth blown save of the season against the Red Sox and tonight he got his second loss.

After the game, Burnett was asked why he switched from his fastball, which was clocked at 95 mph, to an irregular slider after the third inning.

"I wouldn't change a thing," said Burnett.  "But I'll get upset about it later.  It's frustrating, but I kept my team in it as best I could."

Asked to evaluate his performance, Burnett said, "I just want to keep the zeroes up.  That double was a big hit."

Girardi has a lot of evaluating to do himself.  The Yankees manager has to wonder if his "No. 2 starter" is ever going to get through a game without imploding.

Fans are also going to be asking Girardi 'why is it alright to bench Jorge Posada and his large contract and lousy play but, sitting Burnett and his huge paycheck, unless he gets better, is out of the question.'