Resiliency and Guts

Three times the Yankees needed A.J. Burnett to pick them up after starts by Chien-Ming Wang that ranged from terrible to abysmal.

Three times Burnett has delivered.

Burnett was not at his best Sunday against the Indians, but he kept the Yankees in the game and gave the worn out bullpen enough of a break by pitching 6-1/3 innings. Then he got some help as the Yankees rallied to a bounce-back 7-3 victory on the strength of Jorge Posada's controversial two-run homer in the seventh at the new Yankee Stadium.

So far this season, the Yankees have showed they are tough and resilient, rebounding from some disheartening and embarrassing losses. And Burnett has shown he has the heart and attitude needed to pitch in New York.

Burnett allowed three runs on three hits, but walked seven while throwing 111 pitches, 60 strikes. He struggled with his command, but battled and received help from the defense. Clearly he did not have his best stuff, but he did what good pitchers are supposed to do: give his team a chance to win.

Perhaps most importantly, he gave the bullpen a break after throwing 7-2/3 innings Saturday. Consider this: while the Yankees' bullpen has thrown 37 innings so far this season, 19 of those innings have come in Wang's three starts. Each time Burnett has started, he followed Wang and pitched into at least the sixth inning.

But the Yankees were on the verge of being knocked out Sunday when Burnett was lifted. He left with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh and the Yankees trailing, 3-1.

It was a tough spot to throw the unproven and untested Jonathan Albaladejo into. If the righthander had escaped the jam allowing just one run, the outing would have been considered great, but Albaladejo pulled off a trick that would make Penn and Teller jealous and turned in a performance that would make Goose Gossage proud.

Albaladejo induced two grounders and escaped the inning without allowing a run. He was gutsy and impressive. This outing will earn him looks in tougher and more important spots as Joe Girardi tries to figure to the seventh inning part of the bridge to Mariano Rivera.

The Good
After going 1-for-25 with runners in scoring position in the first three games against the Indians, the Yankees finally got some key hits, going 3-for-7 in the clutch. Mark Teixeira had a two-out RBI double in the fourth that scored Derek Jeter to make it 3-1. And in the three-run seventh, Hideki Matsui's single drove in Robinson Cano, who led off with a double, to make it 3-2. After a failed bunt by Cody Ransom, Posada hit his homer to right that appeared to hit a fan as it just snuck over the fence. The umpires needed to use replay to review the call. Ransom drove in three more with two outs in the ninth with a pop double that Indians left fielder Shin-Soo Choo allowed to fall in. Sometimes a lucky hit like that is all it takes to get a hitter going. Hope that's the case with Ransom.

Brian Bruney also remained on fire, retiring the side in order on nine pitches, six strikes. In his last seven outings, he has not allowed a run in 6-2/3 innings and has struck out 12. He got to ball to Mo in what became a non-save situation, but he's in a stretch that rivals what Joba Chamberlain can do.

The Bad
The Yankees were poised for a big inning in the sixth when Jose Molina and Brett Gardner led off with consecutive singles. The rally was short-circuited when Jeter grounded into a double play, and after Johnny Damon what hit by a pitch and Teixeira walked, Nick Swisher struck out, as the Yankees failed to deliver a punishing blow to Indians starter and former Yankee bust Carl Pavano. ... OK, this one is a little knit-picky because the Yankees won, but the move was puzzling. With Matsui on first and no outs in the seventh, Girardi elected to have Ransom lay down a sacrifice bunt. That's fine, but the question is with Matsui hampered by a bad left knee, why didn't Girardi call on Ramiro Pena to pinch run? Even if the bunt had been successful, it's unlikely Matsui would have been able to score on a single anyway. Fortunately, the Yankees were bailed out by Posada's homer.

What We Learned
When Yankee pitching keeps the score close, this offense, even without A-Rod, is potent enough and gutty enough to pull out the win. ... Also, the Scranton Shuttle is making round trips daily to the Bronx. Anthony Claggett, who was blasted in his major league debut Saturday, was sent down and right-handed reliever Steven Jackson was called up. Jackson did not pitch Sunday and he has pretty a good chance to stay with the Yanks for at least another day, if not more. The Yankees could use another right-handed bat with the A's scheduled to start three lefthanders, but Juan Miranda is not eligible to be called up unless there is an injury. Kevin Cash, Angel Berroa and Shelley Duncan have all hit well at Scranton, but none are on the 40-man roster. ... The Yankees are still trying to figure out what to do with Wang, but it appears likely that at the very least they'll skip is next scheduled start Friday at Fenway against the Red Sox. That would give the Yankees nine days to try to figure out what's wrong with Wang, but I think he'll need much more time than that.

Runners On Third With Less Than Two Outs
Sunday
o Opportunities
Season
18 Opportunities2-for-14, 3B, BB, 3 SF, 10 R, 7 RBI, 1 K, 2 GIDP

Up Next
Today vs. A's, 7:05 p.m., YES
Dana Eveland (0-0m 6.75 ERA) vs. Andy Pettitte (1-0, 2.51)