The Yankees gave A.J. Burnett $82.5 million to do something for them free agent pitchers in the recent past have struggled to accomplish—win games in October.
Burnett hopes to perform up to expectations and avoid furthering the team's catching controversy as he makes his first career postseason start against the Minnesota Twins in Game 2 of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.
The hard-throwing righty's first season in pinstripes has been mixed bag of dominance and erratic outings. After going 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA in 33 starts in his first season in pinstripes, Burnett is eager to prove himself the postseason.
“It’s been a long time and I finally get the chance,” Burnett told the Associated Press. “So I’m going to go as it as another start and to be a part of last night and to see the crowd and just to see how everybody reacted emotionally throughout the whole game was good to be a part of.”
Burnett's battery mate will be the light-hitting backup Jose Molina instead of starting catcher Jorge Posada. Burnett knows the pressure to perform on him regardless of who he throws to.
"It goes back to me being right," Burnett told the Daily News. "It's an unfortunate situation with Jorge (Posada) and Molina, but I've thrown good games with both. That's just a matter of me being on top of my game, I believe."
Burnett went 5-5 with a 4.96 ERA and .270 opponent batting average in 16 starts with Posada behind the plate. He was 5-2 with a 3.28 ERA and .221 opponent batting average in 11 starts with Molina catching.
The Yankees are hoping to take a 2-0 lead in the series after beating Minnesota 7-2 in Game 1 on Wednesday.
Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui homered and Alex Rodriguez knocked in two runs to lead the Yankees.
Minnesota will send righty Nick Blackburn to the mound. Blackburn went 11-11 for the Twins this season, but he's 0-1 with a 5.89 ERA in four career starts against New York.
Burnett is 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA in six career starts against the Twins, going 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts this season.
The Yankees have won all eight meetings against Minnesota this season.
