The test of whether the 2011 A.J. Burnett would look like last year’s model or a new and improved version arrived in the fifth inning yesterday.
There were two on, two outs and Tigers slugger Magglio Ordonez was at the plate. This was the kind of situation in which the Yankees right-hander spiraled out of control during his disastrous 2010 — when what happened above his shoulders often wrecked what happened below.
But this time, Burnett prevailed. He struck out Ordonez on a wicked, 83 mph curveball. Ordonez offered a weak checked swing, ending the inning.
It was the final pitch of Burnett’s day in the 10-6 Yankees victory. The strikeout brought the crowd of 41,462 at Yankee Stadium to their feet to cheer Burnett, something he did not hear a lot of last year.
Unfortunately for Burnett, he could not hear the cheers thanks to a head cold that has he has been fighting all week and clogged his ears.
“I felt terrible,” Burnett said.
The 34-year-old may have felt bad, but he looked good. He allowed three runs on five hits while striking out six and walking one in his season debut. There is a bright spotlight on Burnett to deliver for these Yankees after going 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA last year.
The Yankees offense gave him a huge boost, staking him to a six-run lead after two innings. The Yankees got home runs from Mark Teixeira, Russell Martin and Alex Rodriguez as they pounded Tigers starter Brad Penny.
“The good news for us is that one through nine [in the order] everyone’s swinging the bat well and we’re putting up some runs,” said Rodriguez, whose sixth-inning homer was the 614th of his career.
The 2-0 start is the first for the Yankees since 2005. They continued their dominance over Detroit in the new Yankee Stadium, running their record to 8-1 against the Tigers on this side of 161st Street.
Burnett spent the winter revamping his motion under the supervision of new pitching coach Larry Rothschild. In the third year of a five-year, $82.5 million contract, the pressure is on Burnett to provide the Yankees a strong complement to ace CC Sabathia in the starting rotation. Last year, Burnett’s pitching was as unpredictable as Lindsay Lohan’s behavior. After a strong start, he crumbled and was left out of the ALDS starting rotation.
Yesterday, Burnett showed some positive signs. He threw six changeups, a pitch he has been reluctant to trust in the past. His curveball dipped and dived the way it does when he’s at his best and his fastball hit 95 on a cold, spring day.
After mostly cruising through the first four innings, Burnett gave up three first-pitch singles to open the fifth inning. The Tigers looked like they had Burnett on the ropes, but Brandon Inge laid down a sacrifice bunt that seemed to calm Burnett down. After Burnett walked Austin Jackson, Rothschild paid a visit to the mound and told him to trust his changeup. Burnett got Will Rhymes to ground out on the changeup, then struck out Ordonez to escape the inning with 6-3 lead.
“He just made some pitches is what he did,” manager Joe Girardi said. “You have to be able to stop an inning. That’s extremely important.”
Feeling the effects of his illness, Burnett was out of gas at the end of the fifth inning and Girardi pulled him for David Robertson.
One outing is not enough to prove Burnett is suddenly trustworthy, but his teammates are clearly counting on him.
“Listen, people forget we won a championship with A.J. being our number two [starter],” Rodriguez said. “A.J.’s got electric stuff. I know I didn’t have any fun facing him, our whole team. He dominated us when he was with the Jays. He pitched really well in ’09. A.J.’s going to have a good year for us.”