It looked like Good A.J. Burnett in the first inning when he retired the side in order via two strikeouts and a groundout. He then escaped a jam of his own making: after walking the first two batters in the second inning, he got a fly out, pop out and K. He never had one bad inning, but several mediocre ones: single runs in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh were his down fall.
Did Teixeira make the right decision turning the DP in the third rather than getting the out at home? Probably. It was Brian Matusz after all, not Felix Hernandez on the mound. In hindsight, he probably should have fired home, but who thought the Yankee lineup would only score thrice?
The Yanks got their first run on an A-Rod blast (his 22nd) deep into the visitors' bullpen to tie the game in the fourth.
Wild pitches by both starters led to eventual runs: Burnett's led to Baltimore's third run while Matusz's allowed the Yankees to get back two.
For some reason (ok, we know the reason), I knew Burnett would concede another run once the Yankees scored twice to tie it. I just have very little confidence in him, what can I say? He was an out away from a quality start but allowed a go-ahead single to Brian Roberts. Roberts was tagged out between first and second on each of his RBI singles while trying to draw a throw, yet he didn't need to as the throw home was too late each time.
The offense never really clicked and Baltimore got a few timely hits and that was the difference.
Play of the Game: Roberts' two-out, go-ahead RBI single in the seventh (-15%).
Comment(s) of the Game going out to TheMelkman and Nine Inch Nails.