Awful A.J. dooms Yankees in 8-6 loss

There's a tie atop the American League Eastern Division. On a night when Tampa doubled up Minnesota, 4-2, A.J. Burnett doomed the Yankees with one of his worst starts of the year. Things didn't look too bad through the first four, when Toronto managed just one run, but then the wheels (they didn't just fall off) burst off in the fifth: double, homer, walk, double, groundout, double, double, strikeout, double, (Mitre enters), double, line out. That equated to seven runs.

The Yankee hitters mounted a valiant comeback but it wasn't enough after Toronto's seven-run fifth. Rally after rally was snuffed out. They went 1-8 with RISP.

The relievers (Mitre, D-Rob, Logan and Joba) did a helluva job, holding Toronto scoreless after Burnett exited. Unfortunately, there was no lead to hold.

I think Nick Swisher liked being moved back to the no. 2 spot: 2-5 with two long-balls. Lance Berkman had his first Yankee RBI in the sixth on a line drive single. A-Rod went 0-fer again, dropping his post-599th-home-run batting average to .195. (Can anyone honestly say they don't think Alex is 'pressing'?)

Play of the Game: Edwin Encarnacion's two-run shot in the fifth that was the beginning of the end for A.J. (-18%).

Comment of the Game: Kenmandu nabs it.

Quick rant: It is literally painful watching Burnett pitch sometimes. He nibbles, he takes his time, he doesn't know where the ball is going. I always seem to get the recaps of A.J.'s games. When will the madness end?!

Just saw this tweet: A.J. Burnett has the most outings of 0 ERs in the AL this year: 7. And the most outings of 6 ERs or more: 7.