Since A.J. Burnett became a Yankee last year, we’ve seen Good A.J. and Bad A.J.
Yesterday we were introduced to Idiotic A.J.
The erratic Yankees starting pitcher slapped a double door in the Yankees clubhouse in frustration after allowing three runs to the Rays in the first two innings and cut both of his hands on hard plastic lineup-card holders.
Burnett initially lied to the trainers about how his injuries occurred, and pitched to two batters in the third before being removed in the 10-5 loss to the Rays in front of 48,957 at Yankee Stadium on Old-Timers’ Day.
The 33-year-old pitcher has had trouble controlling his emotions before, and let the frustration bubble over after giving up a run in the first and a two-run home run to Reid Brignac in the second inning. The cuts are on the palms of both hands.
He told trainer Steve Donohue that he fell while running up stairs. That story got relayed to manager Joe Girardi, who said it during an in-game interview on Fox, and to general manager Brian Cashman, who relayed the story to reporters who contacted him.
When the game ended, Burnett immediately sought out Donohue, Girardi and Cashman and told them the truth.
“I calmed down and realized that’s not appropriate and that’s not the truth and I’m an honest person,” Burnett said. “I’m not the first person to snap. I didn’t break anything. I will make my next start, and I apologize for [being] misleading.”
Both Girardi and Cashman expressed disappointment in Burnett’s actions, but neither seemed angry.
“I appreciate the fact that he took a step back and stood up to what he did,” Cashman said. “That shows strength. He apologized and I accepted.”
Girardi would not say whether disciplinary action was taken, but seemed satisfied the matter had been dealt with.
“He told me the truth when I asked him,” Girardi said. “I’ve done some stupid things when I’ve been embarrassed, too. I talked to him and he told me what happened.”
Burnett’s next scheduled start is Friday against the Royals. Girardi also said he doesn’t expect Burnett to miss that start. The cuts on his hands were not deep enough to require stitches.
Burnett said the cut on his pitching hand did not affect him, but Girardi disagreed after watching him hit a batter, throw a wild pitch and give up an RBI single to start the third inning.
He clearly was embarrassed while talking to reporters after the game and promised this is the last time anything like this will occur.
“I’m 100 percent [sure] it won’t happen again, not after what happened today, having to leave a ballgame where it was early enough that we were still in the ballgame, and I basically couldn’t go out and couldn’t perform because of that,” Burnett said.
He plans on apologizing to his teammates before today’s game.
“I’m gonna tell them tomorrow, just how I regret what I did,” he said. “I think I’ve taken a lot of steps. … I’m a .500 pitcher, so I’ve dealt with my inconsistency, and learned to adjust from that, and I didn’t do that today. I let myself down, I let them down and like I said, if I could maybe find it, and not give up and snap like that, maybe hold them into a game we can possibly win.”
The Yankees had no chance with Burnett out of the game. Dustin Moseley came in and gave up four runs in three innings, surrendering a three-run home run to Brignac in the fifth. Chad Gaudin yielded another two runs in four innings.
Burnett said he felt “out of whack” from the beginning of the game and was struggling to make his pitches. When Brignac hit the home run in the second, he snapped.
There is a double door in the Yankees clubhouse that separate the players’ private area from the area where the lockers are. On one of those doors are three clear, plastic holders where the lineup, the batting practice schedule and other announcements are placed for players to check. Burnett said he must have caught the corner of the holders. He knocked one completely off the door.
brian.costello@nypost.com