After After A.J. Burnett blew a big lead earlier this season in Boston, in
what was likely his worst outing as a Yankee, he said things would
turn, and he would be better.

Boy oh boy was he ever right.

The
big right-hander has been positively dominating of late, coming into
Friday afternoon’s game with a 4-2 record and a 1.75 ERA in his
previous seven starts, and he was sensational again today.

Burnett
allowed only two runs in seven innings this afternoon against the
Toronto Blue Jays, who came into today’s game as the fifth-highest
scoring team in Major League Baseball.

The right-hander threw 68
of his 112 pitches for strikes, walked two and struck out seven and
generally handled the tough Toronto lineup with what seemed like
relative ease.

The Yankees offense in this game was sporadic at best, but Burnett made it stand up.

New
York’s first run came on a Robinson Cano solo home run in the second
inning, but the team would not score again until the fifth when the
Yanks, with a lot of help from Toronto starter Brian Tallet, scored two
runs on one hit.

Tallet walked three in the inning Yankees in
the frame, including Mark Teixeira with the bases loaded. The Yanks’
second run in the fifth came on a wild pitch with the bases loaded.

Burnett
gave up a solo home run in the sixth, and then pitched worked a
scoreless seventh to preserve a 3-2 lead for New York. The two Phils
(Coke and Hughes) combined to pitch a shutout eighth inning, signaling
a shift in the way this bullpen will work, at least for now.

Until
today, the eighth inning has been the domain of Brian Bruney, but he
has struggled with his command since returning from the DL. The Yankees
will use Bruney in other less critical spots, at least until he finds
his command.

In the home half of the eighth, the Yankees got a
little instant insurance courtesy of Alex Rodriguez and his solo home
run to right field, which expanded the lead to 4-2.

Mariano
Rivera came on and worked a perfect ninth inning, including a couple of
strikeouts, to earn his 21st save of the season. Rivera required only
11 pitches, eight of which were thrown for strikes.

After losing
on Thursday night, when they had ace CC Sabathia on the mound against
the not-very-good Seattle Mariners, this game was one the Yankees
needed to win, especially when you consider the pitching matchup for
the second game of this series.

Saturday afternoon, the Yankees
will send out Chien-Ming Wang, who continues to be extremely erratic in
his performances, to face Roy Halladay. Anything can happen in any
given game, of course, but the Yanks can’t like their chances in that
game. So winning today could well have prevented a three-game losing
streak.