Burnett Struggles Again, Digging Too Deep a Hole

One poor start by Burnett was a blip, two were an anomaly and three were a disturbing trend. Four in a row, then, is a downright problem, and the Yankees now have to solve a pressing identity crisis: Who replaced the confident strike-thrower that thrived in April with the erratic guy who has a 10.35 earned run average this month? In 20 innings, Burnett has surrendered nine homers, and his overall earned run average has soared to 4.83 from 3.28.
Recently, he has been bothered by a bruised right foot, sustained when he was drilled by a grounder during his last start, but Burnett said it felt better heading into Monday’s game. Over all, his struggles have coincided with the absence of the pitching coach Dave Eiland, who began an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons on June 4, the day of Burnett’s first start this month. All nine hits that Burnett allowed came with two outs, and the first six runs scored on rallies that began with two outs and no one on base.
The Yankees might have had a better chance at overcoming that six-run deficit if a Cy Young Award winner had been pitching for the Diamondbacks. After toppling two Cy Young winners, Roy Halladay and Johan Santana, within a six-day span, the Yankees managed only three runs and had eight hits in eight innings against Rodrigo Lopez, who entered Monday at 2-6. Their lone extended rally produced two runs in the sixth, and Lopez foiled a potential comeback by retiring Mark Teixeira with runners on the corners to end the seventh. Brett Gardner was a bright spot, going 4 for 4 with two runs scored.
Burnett’s latest misery came on the same day that Manager Joe Girardi announced a significant, if temporary, change in the rotation. In keeping with their plans to restrict Phil Hughes’s innings, the Yankees will skip his scheduled start Friday in Los Angeles to give him three more starts before the All-Star break instead of four. His next start will come June 29 at Yankee Stadium against Seattle. By pitching so well, by logging so many innings, Hughes has accelerated their preservation plan. He has exceeded their expectations, going 10-1 with a 3.17 E.R.A, while pitching 82 1/3 innings across 13 starts — an average of six and a third innings per start. If he were to continue on that pace without extra rest, Hughes would demolish his professional season high of 146 in 2006.
“This is a hard guy to sit and miss a start, just because of how well he’s pitching for us,” Manager Joe Girardi said. “We can’t be short-sighted. We have to think of this year, and we also have to think of his future and not hurt this kid. Starters are not easy to develop, and it takes time. We want to make sure that we have him for a long time.”
The Diamondbacks, at 28-43 and mired in last place in the National League West, do few things well. Hitting home runs is one of them, though, and Justin Upton began the barrage with a mammoth shot onto the concourse in center field. Two singles followed, and Adam LaRoche crushed a first-pitch fastball over the swimming pool in right field. Burnett’s fastball has not been sharp lately, but then again, neither has his curve. One hung for the next batter, Mark Reynolds, and he pummeled it over the left-field fence. As each homer cleared the wall, Burnett just stood on the mound, dumbfounded. He threw 35 pitches that inning, and 17 more in the second, when Miguel Montero’s two-out double knocked in Upton.
A crowd of 47,229, the largest since opening day, packed Chase Field for a rematch of the 2001 World Series, not that anyone inside was thinking back nine years or anything. Certainly not three players from the Diamondbacks’ championship team — Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams and Mark Grace — who were asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Or the fans who hooted when the video screen showed Gonzalez’s series-deciding broken-bat blooper in Game 7. Trying to drown them out, the Yankees fans let loose a long boo. They had practice with that reaction Monday night, when one of their own — Burnett — was the target.
INSIDE PITCH
The Yankees felt comfortable enough in JORGE POSADA’s ability to assume the bulk of the catching duties this trip that they dropped their third catcher, CHAD MOELLER. Their hope is that Posada, recovering from a fractured right foot, can catch four of the six games. He started Monday night. Replacing Moeller was COLIN CURTIS, a left-handed-hitting outfielder. He made his major league debut as a pinch-hitter in the fourth and flew out ... JESUS MONTERO and AUSTIN ROMINE are the Yankees’ most advanced catching prospects, but they have another, GARY SANCHEZ, whom they like just as much. In his second professional at-bat, Sanchez, 17, hit a grand slam Monday for the Yankees’ rookie-level team in the Gulf Coast League.