A.J. Burnett Keeps New York Mets' In Check, Yanks Win 15-0

Now that's more like it.

A.J. Burnett rebounded from a weak outing on Tuesday at Boston, when he pitched seven impressive innings of four hit ball against the Mets, striking out 8 and, and surrendering 4 walks, earning a win.

Throughout the season, he made all Yankee fans' heart pressure rise by walking a plethora of batters, and it usually came back to haunt the Yanks, but not today.

In the third inning, with no outs in the inning, he loaded up the bases for SS Alex Cora, replacing Jose Reyes who injured his calf in May. Burnett was on the verge of walking Cora, before striking him out while Cora was checking his swing. Up next was Fernando Martinez, who struck out swinging, and finally Carlos Beltran hit a liner to Jeter.

The third inning was important, because the Yankees were then leading 4-0 heading to it, when A.J. loaded the bases with Mets, Yankee fans' hearts here beating really hard, and A.J. had been bad in these types of situations. But when he got out of the inning, the Yankees never looked back, and the Yankees put up a 9 spot in the fourth, ultimately putting the game out of reach.

As for the Mets, Johan Santana had a nightmare outing, abdicating nine earned runs, a career high, in three innings pitched. Go figure that the Yankees had difficulty producing runs off Fernando Nieve, who before Saturday, hasn't started since 2006.

Notes: Brian Bruney got to a heated exchange with K-Rod in the pregame warm-ups, as a result of Brian Bruney's comments toward K-Rod after he blew the save on Friday.

The next game the Yankees play is against the sorry Washington Nationals, CC Sabathia, LHP (5-4, 3.68) gets the start for the Yankees against Shairon Martis, RHP (5-1, 5.04).

Box Score via MLB.com.

NY Mets AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Cora, SS 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .258 Martinez, F, LF 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .216 Beltran, CF 3 0 1 0 0 1 3 .344   Tatis, 3B 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .259 Wright, 3B 3 0 1 0 0 2 1 .364   Valdez, 2B 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .238 Church, RF 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .270 Sheffield, DH 3 0 2 0 1 1 0 .270 Murphy, 1B 2 0 0 0 2 1 4 .238 Schneider, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 4 .205 Castillo, 2B 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .279   Reed, CF 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .313 Totals 31 0 6 0 4 12 23   BATTING TB: Beltran; Wright; Valdez; Sheffield 2; Schneider. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Beltran 2; Schneider. GIDP: Murphy; Reed. Team RISP: 0-for-8. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING Outfield assists: Martinez, F (Damon at 2nd base), Beltran (Cabrera, M at 3rd base). DP: (Cora).		NY Yankees AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Jeter, SS 4 2 4 2 0 0 0 .310   Berroa, 3B 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .125 Damon, LF 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 .284 Teixeira, 1B 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 .284   Gardner, CF 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .276 Rodriguez, A, 3B 4 1 0 0 0 1 5 .230   Pena, 3B-SS 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .254 Cano, 2B 4 2 3 3 0 0 0 .298 Swisher, RF-1B 3 2 0 0 2 0 4 .247 Matsui, DH 3 3 1 2 2 1 1 .257 Cabrera, M, CF-RF 4 1 2 2 1 1 3 .294 Cervelli, C 5 2 3 1 0 0 1 .298 Totals 37 15 17 14 7 6 21   BATTING 2B: Cano 2 (15, Santana, Switzer), Cabrera, M 2 (9, Santana, Stokes), Damon (15, Stokes). HR: Matsui (10, 4th inning off Santana, 1 on, 0 out), Cano (11, 4th inning off Stokes, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Jeter 4; Damon 3; Teixeira; Pena; Cano 8; Matsui 4; Cabrera, M 4; Cervelli 3. RBI: Cervelli (6), Jeter 2 (30), Damon 3 (38), Matsui 2 (28), Cano 3 (39), Cabrera, M 2 (26), Pena (5). 2-out RBI: Cervelli; Jeter; Damon 2; Cano 2; Cabrera, M 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A; Cabrera, M; Swisher; Berroa. SF: Cano. GIDP: Rodriguez, A. Team RISP: 9-for-20. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING E: Burnett (1, throw). DP: 2 (Cano-Jeter-Teixeira, Pena-Cano-Swisher).
NY Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Santana (L, 8-4) 3.0 9 9 9 2 3 1 3.29 Stokes 2.0 6 4 4 2 2 1 3.80 Switzer 1.1 2 2 2 2 0 0 13.50 Takahashi 1.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 3.18		NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Burnett (W, 5-3) 7.0 4 0 0 4 8 0 4.46 Robertson 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.25 Hughes, P 1.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 5.13
Santana pitched to 5 batters in the 4th. WP: Burnett. HBP: Berroa (by Switzer). Pitches-strikes: Santana 82-48, Stokes 44-25, Switzer 36-19, Takahashi 23-12, Burnett 111-66, Robertson 12-9, Hughes, P 21-14. Groundouts-flyouts: Santana 1-4, Stokes 2-1, Switzer 2-2, Takahashi 2-2, Burnett 7-6, Robertson 0-1, Hughes, P 0-1. Batters faced: Santana 19, Stokes 12, Switzer 9, Takahashi 6, Burnett 27, Robertson 3, Hughes, P 5. Inherited runners-scored: Stokes 2-2, Takahashi 3-1. EjectionsNew York Mets Manager Jerry Manuel ejected by HP umpire Jim Wolf. (6th). Umpires: HP: Jim Wolf. 1B: Brian O'Nora. 2B: Fieldin Culbreth. 3B: Gary Cederstrom. Weather: 68 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 8 mph, R to L. T: 3:18. Att: 47,943. June 14, 2009 Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner