A.J. Burnett will take the ball for the Yankees tonight, looking to end a minor two-game losing streak. Burnett has not pitched well lately, with his last quality start coming on June 29th. Since July began, A.J. has only pitched through the sixth twice, so let's hope he can provide some distance in tonight's game.
For the season, Burnett is 8-9 with a 4.54 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 1.35 WHIP, and 7.8 K/9.
On average, the Yankees score 4.83 runs during A.J.'s starts, but that is inflated due to an 18 run game and a 10 run game. If it seems like he hasn't gotten much run support to you, you may be right. The Yankees have scored four runs or less in twelve of Burnett's twenty three starts.
Opposing Burnett will be Dan Haren, who has put together a fantastic season. Haren is 12-6 with a 2.81 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 0.97 WHIP, and 7.27 K/9.
Haren throws a low 90's fastball, a mid-to-high 80's cutter, a high 70's curveball, and a mid-80's splitter. His cutter is by far his best pitch, registering thrity four runs above average this season on fangraphs. The rest of his pitch values can be found here.
Current Series
3 game series vs Angels @ Yankee Stadium
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Los Angeles Angels Tuesday, Aug 9, 2011, 7:05 PM EDT Dan Haren vs A.J. Burnett Partly cloudy,rain. Winds blowing in from right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 80. Complete Coverage > |
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| Wed 08/10 | 7:05 PM EDT | |
| Thu 08/11 | 1:05 PM EDT | |
Follow the jump for lineups and matchups.
Yankees Lineup: GGBG, Jeter, Grandy, Tex, Cano, Swish, Chavez (DH), Martin, Wardo
Angels Lineup: Aybar, Kendrick, Abreu DH, Hunter, Trumbo, Wells, Izturis, Bourjos, Mathis
A.J. Burnett vs. current Angels
Bobby Abreu, Vernon Wells and Russell Branyan have given Burnett trouble throughout the years, as has Jeff Mathis is limited plate appearances. Burnett has kets the rest of the batters who have faced him in check.
Only Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira have hit Haren well. Jeter has a .318 batting average and a .423 OBP against him, while Tex has a .940 OPS. No other Yankee has hit Haren well, especially Russell Martin, who is just 5-for-32 against him.
For more on the game tonight, check out Baseball-Reference's preview, MLB.com's preview, or Yahoo!'s preview.
Look for the game thread at 6:45 p.m.