WHY IT'S TIME TO PULL AJ BURNETT

(Photo: Getty)

Well Yankee fans, what can you say that hasn't already been said about AJ Burnett? I mean, I guess I can spend the rest of the time writing this recap talking about how AJ is an embarrassment in pinstripes. Or how AJ couldn't hit the side of a barn even if he was standing three feet away. But I won't do that tonight. Why? Because he is not worth it. But, here is what I will say. I certainly do not know AJ Burnett "the man off the field". So I would never judge another man without having first walked a mile in his shoes and even then, who am I to judge? You will not find any of the BYB writers ever attacking another player on a personal level. That is not how we roll at BYB. But one thing I do know is AJ Burnett, the pitcher for the New York Yankees is just plain awful. And he has the nerve to show up his manager and his team when rightfully being yanked from the game? Are you kidding me? You know, when Joe Girardi was asked about what AJ said to him when he left the mound Joe took the high road. He played "dumb" saying AJ's anger wasn't directed at him. Look, we all know that AJ said something to Girardi and Girardi probably jacked him up when he followed him into the clubhouse tunnel, but what is he suppose to say? Girardi is the manager of the New York Yankees, he isn't going to sit there and sell out one of his players to the media. So I am not gonna get on him for the way he answered questions after the game. In fact, I give credit tonight to Girardi for showing class and leadership. Bottom line is this: AJ Burnett and the New York Yankees need to come up with a "mystery injury". This cannot go on any longer! It must end and it must end NOW!

So here's the recap; In the bottom of the 1st inning, AJ Burnett gets the leadoff hitter out, but then the Twins proceeded to hit back to back doubles and a wild pitch by Burnett gave the Twins and early 1-0 lead. After a sacrifice fly, AJ retires the side.

So after one inning, the Yanks were down 2-0, but it wasn't the end of the world. There was a glimmer of hope that maybe AJ settled down and found his groove. But, that was not the case...

After the Yanks went down again 1-2-3 in the top of the 2nd the Twins came up and by the end of the inning, this game was over. In fact, Burnett could not even make it out of the 2nd inning. And, to add insult to injury, when AJ reluctantly left the mound with the bases loaded the Twin fans gave him a standing ovation! How embarrassing is that? Pathetic. Here is AJ's final line for tonight:



1.2 IP - 5 Hits - 7 ER - 3 BB - 1 K - 2 Wild pitches -- 61 pitches thrown and now AJ's ERA for the season is 4.96!

Offensively, the Yankee bats were frozen against Francisco Liriano. To Liriano's credit, he was given a big lead and pitched accordingly. He went after the Yankee hitters and never let them string anything together. When Liriano is on, he is really on. Eduardo Nunez was the only Yankee with more than one hit going 2-4 with a run scored. The Yankees only had a total of 7 hits for the entire game and most of them came late, not against Liriano.



So tonight I ask the Yankees to do us all a favor and end this AJ nightmare. Please yank this guy from the starting rotation. We don't care how you do it, all we care is that you do it.

Some Other Game Notes:

• Andruw Jones smacked another home run tonight -- his 9th of the season.

• Curtis Granderson got his 97th RBI of the season. Incredible.
  
  

• Although newly acquired lefty Aaron Laffey gave up two runs tonight, credit needs to be given to him for "taken one on the chin" giving his new team 3 innings worth of work. Also, the bullpen combo of Ayala, Wade, and Noesi pitched 3.1 innings giving up just 3 hits and no runs. Bravo.
  
  

Final Score tonight: Minnesota Twins 9 -- New York Yankees 4



Can you tell I'm disgusted? Well, I am.

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer

Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com

Twitter: @MikeyBlu23







Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

WHY BLEEDING YANKEE BLUE GOT A SHOUTOUT... KIND OF

(Photo: Getty)

When we started Bleeding Yankee Blue we were just happy to get readers. The ones that we have now, you, are so loyal we couldn't be happier and we love interacting with you all on Twitter and Facebook... it's alot of fun, so thank you for your support.



In doing my daily reading through the sports pages, looking for a nugget, I can across Mark Simon from ESPN and his piece titled simply YANKEES AT TWINS and he goes through the players that no doubt will be looked at closely today... AJ Burnett, Francisco Liriano, today's pitchers as well as red hot Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and David Robertson where he wrote this:



"David Robertson who got a day off yesterday, has been amazing in his last nine outings, allowing two hits and no walks in 9 2/3 innings pitched. One intrepid blogger has even started a Cy Young campaign for him."(Photo: Getty)

I was curious, who could the intrepid blogger be? No idea, but I had to click. Luckily... it was BYB and Mikey's piece titled WHY DAVID ROBERTSON IS CY YOUNG WORTHY. Needless to say, we are excited and as the head of Bleeding Yankee Blue I wanted to personally thank Mark Simon for the mention, and, for even noticing. It seems sometimes when us bloggers even try and communicate with these writers, we don't even get a response, like we're not worthy of it. I just want to say we appreciate you acknowledging that we have a voice too, even if we are intrepid... or bold, or courageous, whatever you want to call us. The best part of what we do here at Bleeding Yankee Blue is write from our hearts; we're all Yankee fans, I think that's what makes us unique, don't you think?



Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.