A.J. Burnett Should Never Be Allowed To Pitch In Fenway Park, Red Sox Trounce Yanks 14-1

It's hard to believe that the Yankees put up 20 runs in the 1st game of this series with the Red Sox, and after two games, have been outscored, 25-21. The pitching, much like yesterday, was awful, except worse. If the Yankees ;earn one thing from today's game I hope it's this: Don't let A.J. Burnett pitch in Fenway Park. If the two teams happen to meet in the ALCS, work out the rotation so that A.J. avoids pitching there. He has been beyond dreadful in his 3 starts in Fenway this year. See for yourself:

1. April 25th- no decision, 5 IP, 8 hits, 8 ER, 2 HR, 3 BB, 5 K
2. June 9th- loss, 2.2 IP, 5 hits, 5 runs, 3 ER, 1 HR, 5 BB, 1 K
3. August 22- loss, 5 IP, 9 hits, 9 ER, 3 HR, 2 BB, 6 K

For those of you without a calculator nearby, that adds up to 3 games, 2 losses, 12.2 IP, 22 hits, 22 runs, 20 ER, 6 HR, 10 BB, 12 K. That works out to a WHIP of 2.53 and an ERA of 14.21. You don't need a calculator to know what they equals up to. Memo to the Yanks: don't let A.J. pitch there.....EVER!

Alfredo Aceves continued his rapid decline with a sub-par performance. It's hard to believe that on July 21, about 1 month ago, Ace's ERA was 2.53 and he was one of the key components at the back end of the pen. 8 outings later and Ace's ERA is now north of 4 at 4.12. He's allowed runs in 6 of his last 8 outings. 17 runs in 17 innings to be exact. He's not getting the job done, plain and simple. I was an advocate of the Yankees trying to work Aceves into the rotation, in place of Sergio Mitre, but forget that. After his last outing, I wrote that I wasn't ready to write him off. I'm still not, but I'm teetering on the brink. He needs to improve, like now. I'm inclined to think he's got something wrong with him, though like most guys (I'm talking 'bout you Brian Bruney), he'll say he's fine when he's not.

The Yankees definitely had their chances today to score their share of runs. You should score more than 1 run when you rack up 12 hits and 3 walks. The Red Sox definitely made the most of their hits today. The Yankees obviously didn't. It was pretty much the polar opposite of yesterday. Well, sort of. They hit the ball well both days. They just weren't efficient at all today. They were o-9 with RISP. They left 13 guys on base. Jeter, Posada, and Swisher were the only ones who didn't leave anyone on. Melky came up empty with 6 runners on. Matsui didn't produce with 7. I don't think there's anything to be overly concerned about when it comes to the offense.

The loss puts the two teams right back where they started two days ago. The Sox are 6.5 back and tomorrow it's Sabathia vs. Beckett on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Even if the Yanks lose, they're still in pretty good shape. They started the road trip with a 5.5 game which is exactly where they'll be if they lose tomorrow. The big thing is that they'll have knocked 10 games off the schedule without their lead shrinking. It's pretty big when you can do that, especially on a road trip. So even if they lose tomorrow, no big deal.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie