Burnett hands Blue Jays first loss at new Yankee stadium
Last Updated: Friday, July 3, 2009 | 7:27 PM ET
CBC Sports
A.J. Burnett fires a pitch during the first inning of game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday in New York. (Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)The Toronto Blue Jays, making their first appearance at a new Yankee Stadium, were welcomed by a familiar face on Friday.
However, New York Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett wasn't a very courteous host and handed his former ball club a 4-2 loss. Burnett (7-4) limited the Blue Jays (42-39), with whom he spent three seasons, to two runs off of five hits while striking out seven in seven innings of work.
"When you're clicking, everything just flows," Burnett said. "When you're clicking on pitches, you don't even think about anything. You know, it's just all confidence out there."
Burnett lost 5-1 to his former team when facing Roy Halladay at Toronto on May 12, but he said Friday's game had a different feel.
"Completely different," he said. "Not even close. I didn't even pay attention to who got in the box today. The first time was kind of weird."
The Blue Jays' Vernon Wells went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run in the loss.
Wells fall in the order picks up his game
Wells, struggling offensively as of late, was dropped to the sixth spot in the batting order by Toronto manager Cito Gaston. The drop paid dividends for Wells, who used his first at-bat to notch his team's first hit of the day, a stand-up double in the second inning.
"If I want to get back to the position I'm used to hitting, I've got to do a better job," Wells said.
However, Wells was stranded, and the Yankees were the first to get on the scoreboard. Robinson Cano launched a solo shot off of Blue Jays' starter Brian Tallet (5-6) in the bottom of the second to take the early lead.
The Blue Jays knotted the game in the fourth inning, thanks to Lyle Overbay and his lead-off double. The Toronto first baseman advanced to third on a passed ball and was driven home by Alex Rios, who took a Burnett fastball for a ride up the middle for the RBI single.
Tallet in trouble in the fifth
Tallet hit a rough patch in the fifth inning that could have been much worse. The Blue Jays' southpaw issued consecutive walks to Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter while Damon bunted himself aboard to load the bases with none out.
The go-ahead run came home after Mark Teixeira saw four straight balls from Tallet. Damon then scored on a passed ball to make it 3-1 New York after five innings.
"I put myself in that position," Tallet said. "No disrespect to Brett Gardner: He's the guy we don't walk in that lineup. It's inexcusable."
Tallet's day was over after the sixth; he gave up two earned runs off of six hits and four walks while striking out three.
Toronto got a run back in the top of the sixth when Wells, responding to his new spot in the order, hit his eighth home run of the season to cut the lead to 3-2.
Jeremy Accardo got the ball for the Blue Jays in the bottom of the seventh, and he gave up a lead-off single to Jeter. Shortstop Marco Scutaro dug his pitcher out of a jam when he snagged a Damon blooper in shallow centre and flipped the ball to second baseman Hill who fired to first to double off Jeter.
Rolen preserves hitting streak
Phil Coke started the eighth for the Yankees, who got Lind to fly out.
Phil Hughes was summoned by New York manager Joe Girardi to face Scott Rolen who, at 0-for-3, was in danger of ending his 19 game hitting streak. The Blue Jays' third basemen came through with a single to keep his personal streak alive but wasn't enough to keep his team's hope of winning the game afloat.
In the bottom of the eighth, Alex Rodriguez launched a lead-off solo home run off an Accardo slider to chase the pitcher and extend the Yankees' lead to two runs.
Mariano Rivera closed out the Blue Jays for his 21st save of the year and the team's eighth win in its last nine games.
The second meeting of the four-game series will take place Saturday afternoon, with Halladay (10-2, 2.56 ERA) and the Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang (1-6, 10.06 ERA) expected to start.
