TORONTO - A.J. Burnett continued down what could be a road to personal riches on Tuesday night.
Whether the surging right-hander can help the Toronto Blue Jays in a meaningful way remains open to debate. A man long on talent and short on results for most of his career, Burnett (16-9) lifted the Blue Jays (65-60) to a dramatic 2-1 win over the New York Yankees (66-59) on Tuesday night before a crowd of 37,221 at the Rogers Centre.
While it was nice that Burnett's season-high- strikeouts propelled the Jays to within a game of the Yankees for third place in the wild card race, the sobering reality is the pattern of top-notch performances by the starter can only enhance his value in an off-season where he can opt out of the final two years of his five-year contract, leaving the Jays without a No. 2 hurler.
This year, the Jays need a miracle to employ Burnett's services in the playoffs as they are 7 1-2 games behind the wild card-leading Boston Red Sox.
"He's a real good pitcher," Yankees centre-fielder Johnny Damon said. "I hope he opts out of his deal."
Seeing as Jays manager Cito Gaston speculated on the weekend that Burnett would do just that, Damon may get his wish.
What's more, Damon helped Burnett nail down his sixth win in a row with a bad play in the eighth inning. With the game tied at 1-1, a deep fly ball from Marco Scutaro forced Damon back, but when he leaped the ball popped in and out of his glove.
The ruled double, on a potential inning-ending play, off Yankees reliever Jose Veras (3-2) cashed in the game's winning run as the Jays tied a season-best by going five games over .500.
"I just didn't get back far enough maybe on the last one and I made myself have to jump," said Damon, who was charged with an error in the first on another dropped ball.
"When you do that, your head shakes a bit. I couldn't believe I didn't come down with it."
With Burnett seemingly en route to an unfortunate loss after giving up a run in the first, the Jays bats finally came alive late in the game. Adam Lind hit his third home run in as many games in the seventh off Yankees starter Darrell Rasner to tie it at 1-1.
It was just the third and final hit for the Jays against Rasner, who went 6 2-3 innings in recording a no-decision.
As good as Rasner was, he didn't compare to Burnett, who mixed a rocketing fastball with a nasty curve to elevate his AL-leading strikeout total to 178.
"I knew I had a couple (strikeouts)," said Burnett, who gave up five hits in eight innings. "Everything was working, that's basically all you can say. We got ahead and everything else after that kind of took care of itself."
After closer B.J. Ryan entered in the ninth, he received some fine defence from first baseman Lyle Overbay, who chased down an Alex Rodriguez blooper that went over his head and fired to second to nail the unpopular Yankees third baseman. Ryan went on to record his 24th save.
"I can't say enough about Lyle staying on it and making a great play," Ryan said.
With two more games against the Yankees followed by three with the Red Sox, who entered the evening seven games ahead of Toronto, the Jays need a big week to stay relevant in the AL.
The Jays have to go 25-12 the rest of the way just to finish with 90 wins. At least 94 wins have been needed to claim the wild card in the AL the past seven years.
"This week can make or break you and if it makes you, you've still got another week of make or break you," Jays manager Cito Gaston said before the game. "It doesn't get any easier. You've got to play well. You can't afford to get swept. You've got to win some series here. Otherwise, you can start thinking about next year."
Notes: Blue Jays reliever Scott Downs was available to pitch on Tuesday for the first time since he sprained his right ankle last Wednesday in Detroit against the Tigers. Downs did some lateral work before the game to test out the ankle. ... The Blue Jays adjusted their rotation after a rainout Friday in Boston to maximize the use of top starters Roy Halladay, Burnett and Shaun Marcum. Jesse Litsch, who threw a bullpen session in Sunday, will be skipped in the rotation this time around, giving Halladay, Burnett and Marcum four of the starts on the homestand. ... Blue Jays 3B Scott Rolen (shoulder) remains at the team's rehab complex in Dunedin, Fla., and there is no timetable for his return. Gaston said RHP Jeremy Accardo (right forearm) likely won't return until Sept. 1 at earliest. ... Yankees OF Hideki Matsui returned to the lineup as a DH on Tuesday after missing the past 49 games with a left knee injury. ... Yankes RHP Joba Chamberlain (right shoulder) will throw a bullpen session on Saturday.
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