Well, all that talk about his low homer and walk rates came back to bite me (and him). He walked four batters (matching his season high) and his fastballs found the middle of the plate, often ending up over the wall. The AL homerun leader, Jose Bautista (yeah, I know), cranked two off the former Blue Jay. Both were fastballs that started on the outside corner and tailed directly over the middle of the plate, belt high.
The Yankee hitters just couldn't get anything going against (former Yankee fan) Brett Cecil. I didn't know much about the guy going into the game; he surprised me with velocity that reached 95 MPH and a plus changeup. The Yanks had only seven baserunners on the night (five hits and two walks), with Cano (ending a 17-game hitting streak), Posada and Granderson all failing to reach base.
They made him throw 22 pitches in the first inning, yet seemed impatient once they got to the second. Innings 1-8 saw Cecil throw only 83 pitches (11.8/inning, crazy low). I don't know why they were so keen to swing early in the count.
But the fact of the matter is that Cecil just threw a better game than Burnett. The Toronto hitters looked very comfortable facing A.J. - you'd have to think it's because a lot of them saw him throughout 2007 and '08.
It was surprising to see Chad Moeller starting over Cervelli (our best defensive catcher) with Burnett (who led the league in wild pitches last year) pitching. With a day game tomorrow, wouldn't it have made more sense to start Cervelli tonight and Moeller tomorrow (especially with the control pitcher, Pettitte, going)? Actually, it would've made the most sense to start Moeller last night (giving Frankie a day off in the midst of a slump), Cervelli tonight, and then Moeller again on Saturday. A wild pitch led to Toronto's fifth run. Ah, well...
Play of the Game: Bautista's second homer, giving the Jays a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning (-16%).
Comment of the Game: long time listener, for pointing out the ridiculous hype of the upcoming boxing match between two guys I'd never heard of before the fight was scheduled. I don't want to get into an anti-boxing rant, but the 'sport' hasn't been popular in this country for a decade.