A.J. Burnett, New York Yankees Fall To Arizona Diamondbacks
June 22, 2010- By Jonathan Lowell
A.J. Burnett and the New York Yankees fell on the road to the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4 on Monday night. The Diamondbacks jumped on Burnett early with three homers in the first inning, as the Yankees starter’s pitching slump continues.
Justin Upton, Adam LaRoche, and Mark Reynolds all homered off Burnett in the first inning, and the Diamondbacks jumped out to an early five run lead. Upton added a three-run homer of his own to complete the rout. Upton was all over the basepaths Monday, reaching base five times, scored runs four out of the five, and drove in four.
The Diamondbacks have been performing well at home despite a poor start. They have won 11 out of their last 16 home games, and have been getting offensive production from several players. Their catcher Miguel Montero went 3-5 with a double and two RBIs.
Burnett’s final line was four innings, seven earned runs, and two walks. He gave up nine hits, three of them being homeruns. His record dropped to 6-6, and the Yankee starter said he is not having much fun losing.
“I don’t feel like myself,” Burnett said. “I’m not having fun right now. Who would in a stretch like this? But the game is supposed to be fun. When you come out and take the air out of your team right away for a handful of starts it gets quite frustrating. I’m going to keep plugging away. It’s just a matter of getting on a good roll.”
Over his last four starts, Burnett has given up 23 runs, and nine homeruns. He has lasted just 20 innings, losing all four. He opened the season with a 4-0 record, but has posted a 2-6 record since. Burnett hasn’t gone past four innings in two straight starts.
“It’s frustration at this point,” lamented Burnett. “You know how good I am and how I should be throwing the ball, and the last past handful of starts I haven’t given my team a chance out of the gate. I’m preparing, I’m doing my work in between, I’m just not executing out there in the game.”
Upton knows the feeling after coming off a terrible slump with a strong road trip. The right fielder signed a new six-year deal that he wasn’t living up to before notching his third career multi-homerun game.
“The last week or so I just told myself to go out there and be Justin Upton and whatever happens, happens,” said the Arizona slugger.
MLB sportsbooks have set the Yankees as the favorite in the second game of the series at -138. The Diamondbacks come in as the underdogs at +128, and the over/under set for total runs scored in the game has been set at 9 1/2.
