For the first time all season, the Yankees needed AJ Burnett to come through in a big way. Boy did he deliver! AJ lifted the Yanks with seven innings of amazing pitching, giving up only one run. He was helped out by a fantastic pickoff throw to first by his personal catcher Jose Molina to catch Werth off base. But really it was all AJ, who threw strike after strike. Most importantly, he was his own set-up man, getting the ball to Mariano Rivera and avoiding any chance of another Yankee bullpen collapse.
It was truly a fantastic game, with AJ pitching like he did and Pedro Martinez reliving his glory days. I thought the Yankee bats were going to hammer Pedro tonight. He did give up homers to Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui, but the Yanks had trouble connecting for most of the game. It was truly a vintage performance from the man Derek Jeter called "probably the smartest pitcher I've faced in 15 years." Martinez gave the Phillies every chance to win, but AJ was too much for the Philly offense.
I've never been the biggest AJ Burnett fan as his erratic pitching drives me crazy, but tonight he set the Yankee ship sailing in the right direction again. With Andy Pettitte set to pitch Game 3, the Yanks have the opportunity to gain a lot of momentum and another win before having to face Cliff Lee again.
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