Rangers’ Lee can put pressure on Yankees’ Burnett

Added on Oct 17, 2010 by Ted Sillanpaa in

MLB

New York Yankees fans were uncertain enough about the club’s decision to start right-hander A.J. Burnett in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

It’s hard to have confidence in a guy who was so bad during the regular season that he was left off of the 25-man roster complete for the American League Division Series against the Twins.

If you think Burnett’s Game 4 start on Tuesday in Yankee Stadium concerned the club and its fans before, imagine what they’re thinking now.

Rangers’ postseason super hero Cliff Lee will face veteran Andy Pettite in Game 3 in New York. With the series tied 1-1, the Yankees need to hand Lee his first-ever postseason loss to to keep from losing the homefield advantage they gained with a Game 1 comeback win in Texas.

The Game 3 pitching matchup features the winningest pitcher in post season history Pettite — with a 19-9 playoff/World Series mark — and Lee, who is 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA in 7 postseason starts.

Still, the Yankees realize that if Lee continues a mind-boggling run through the postseason, the Yankees could lose the homefield edge, trail 2-1 and have only Burnett standing between them and a 3-1 deficit in the ALCS.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi dismissed the idea of bringing Game 1 starter C.C. Sabathia back for Game 4 on just three days rest. First, Girardi’s not thinking about losing on Monday. Second, Sabathia struggled mightily in Game 1.

Sabathia, Pettite and Burnett were a three-man gang during the Yankees postseason run to the world championship in 2009. Now, Burnett is coming off of a terrible season where he finished 4-13 with a 6.48 ERA in 22 starts since June 1.

If the Yankees had needed Game 4 against the Twins in the ALDS, they’d have turned to Sabathia. Now, in the ALCS, they’re committed to Burnett.

“Our rotation is still the same,” Girardi said before Sunday’s off-day workout.

“The interesting thing is, before we played Game 1, all the talk was about Game 3 (and Lee). After we played Game 1, all the talk was about Game 4 (and whether Sabathia could come back short). So I thought we might be on Game 5 or 6 today.”
Pitching on extra rest the last two times, Sabathia was uncharacteristically wild and, in Game 1 of the ALCS, visibly uncomfortable.

Sabathia hasn’t pitched well on extra rest in the 2010 postseason. His stance on pitching with short rest in the ALCS is clear.

“I am looking forward to being able to throw my regular bullpen (session), and be in kind of a normal situation heading into my next start,” Sabathia said.

Burnett pitched in a simulated game last Wednesday.

“We believe in A.J. I know it’s been a tough year for him at times, but we believe in A.J,” Girardi said.

The Yankees said Burnett got sharper late in the simulated game. That simulated game put Burnett closer to regular rest than the rest of the rotation the first time through this series.