MLB Worst of the Night: Pittsburgh Pirates' A.J. Burnett Flogged for 12 Runs

Highlighting a bad performance from the previous night in baseball might seem like a harsh way to start the morning, but look at it this way: If you had a rough night or bad day, here's someone who may have had it worse.

It takes some special talent to accomplish what Jered Weaver did Wednesday night in Anaheim, but pitching as poorly as A.J. Burnett did in St. Louis, also requires a distinct ability.

Burnett only needed six pitches to give up four runs to the St. Louis Cardinals. He allowed singles to the first three batters he faced, then grooved a fastball right down the middle of the plate, which Carlos Beltran crushed to right field for a three-run homer. 

Six pitches and the Pittsburgh Pirates were down 4-0. That, too, takes special talent. 

Despite allowing the next two batters to also reach base (aided by an error from third baseman Pedro Alvarez), Burnett got out of the inning with two strikeouts and a groundout, preventing even further damage.

But Burnett was right back at it in the second inning, again putting the first three Cardinals batters on base. RBI singles by Matt Holliday and Beltran, along with a run-scoring groundout from David Freese, gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead.

Rod Barajas tried to stick up for his pitcher by arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Angel Campos, which got him ejected. Maybe Barajas just couldn't take watching the carnage. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle soon joined him, also getting tossed out in that second inning. 

Perhaps Burnett should have tried to get himself ejected, as well. But he came back out for the third inning, and the Cardinals continued to bludgeon him, knocking a single and triple to take an 8-0 lead.

Burnett did manage to retire the third and fourth batters of the inning, so there was some progress. Unfortunately, he then allowed the next two hitters to reach base, giving Beltran another RBI opportunity.

Beltran capitalized, smacking a ball to deep left-center field. The ball bounced back onto the field, leading umpires to think it hit the top of the wall, giving Beltran a double. But after reviewing a replay, the umps saw that the ball went just over the wall for a home run.

That gave Beltran two three-run homers and seven RBI in three innings. That's a good week for most hitters.

Mercifully, Burnett was taken out of the game after that. On his way to the dugout, he dragged an absolutely brutal line of 12 runs and 12 hits with him—all in less than three innings. 

Burnett had actually pitched well coming into Wednesday's game. In two starts since returning from his fractured orbital bone injury, he'd allowed only two runs in 13 innings and struck out 15 batters.

So much for that.

Maybe it was just a bad night at the ballpark for a pitcher prone to some bad outings. Of course, this was far worse than bad.

If Weaver threw a no-hitter, maybe we can call what Burnett threw a yes-hitter. Or an every-hitter? We'll keep working on those. But maybe there just aren't any suitable words to describe the beating that Burnett took on Wednesday night.

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