A.J. Burnett, looking sharp with a four-run lead and a new haircut modeled after an old-school troublemaker, took a shutout into the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.
But then Bobby Abreu appeared to knock Burnett off his game with a solo home run and Burnett's control started to elude him. Three walks later, including an inconceivable intentional pass to Maicer Izturis ? thanks for the help, Joe Girardi! ? �Burnett was being victimized by a big inning.
By the time the sixth was over, the Angels had tied the score, knocked the cowlick off Burnett's head and New Dennis the Menace was out of gas. The Angels went on to win 6-4.
Burnett with the Yankees has been a well-chronicled disappointment, but August has been a particularly bad month for him. In 13 starts on those hot August nights and afternoons since joining the Yanks, he has a 7.18 ERA. Of course, that always leads to questions about him staying in the rotation, either now or come October:
"I'll answer that question when the playoffs start," Burnett scoffed. "We've got a long way to go."
So does Burnett's hair, until it returns to normal. Check it out from another angle in perhaps an even funnier side-by-side comparison:
That's Burnett on the left and actor Thomas Jane portraying Mickey Mantle in "61*" on the right. It's probably the lighting, but A.J. really looks really dazed and confused.
One more picture: It's actually a different cropping of Jay North as Dennis the Menace:
Hey, Mr. Koufax, you wanna play catch in the yard?
Follow Dave on Twitter ?�@AnswerDave ? and engage�the Stew on Facebook
Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Video: Dad catches foul ball while holding baby
? Baseball's most hotly contested award race
? London riots raise security concerns for 2012 Olympics
[Share which games you're watching with IntoNow from Yahoo! for iPhone or Android!]
No comments:
Post a Comment