Schadenfreude 112 (A Continuing Series)

Bill Madden, Daily News:

[T]he onus was on A.J. Burnett Wednesday night to stop this Red Sox carnage against the Yankees this year. "It's important for A.J. to give us distance," the manager understated before the game.

Presumably the 400-foot, two-run homer Ortiz deposited into the right-center field seats in the first inning was the not the sort of distance to which Girardi was referring. ...

Mark Feinsand, Daily News:

There was no David Ortiz bat flip and no Yankee retaliation Wednesday night at the Stadium, just another Red Sox rout in which the Bombers showed little fight and even less resistance. ...

This is the first time the Yankees have gone winless in their first five home games against the Red Sox since 1913. ...

Burnett was pounded for eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits and four walks in 5.2 innings, falling to 0-4 with an 8.71 ERA in eight starts against Boston since joining the Yankees after the 2008 season.

Burnett Against Boston

                GS   IP   H    R  ER  BB   K  HR   ERA  W-L
with Blue Jays   8  56.1  44  18  16  21  53   6  2.56  5-0
with Yankees     8  41.1  52  47  40  26  33  10  8.71  0-4

Mike Lupica, Daily News:

Burnett was asked to pitch big Wednesday night and got roughed up in the first and then again in the fourth and looked small enough to be riding at Belmont on Saturday.

Joel Sherman, Post:

[The Yankees'] ability to beat the Red Sox has disintegrated ... The Yankees are a second-place team now ... Heck, they are just 4.5 games ahead of last-place Baltimore in the congested AL East. ...

On nights like last night, when the Yankees needed Burnett most and he gave them the least, it was yet another reminder he is a heartbreaker. Despite all the propaganda of a new/improved Burnett, he crumbled once again at the sight of the Red Sox, and collapsed once more when a stand was needed against adversity. ...

Roger Rubin, Daily News:

This time, the Yankees didn't have to endure a celebratory gesture, just the sharp pain that another two-run homer by David Ortiz inflicted. ...

Ortiz didn't seem to anticipate any retaliation.

"Why should I?" he said. "I don't care about what Joe Girardi says, man."

Kevin Kernan, Post:

If Burnett is ever going to mean anything to the Yankees, he has to get over his Red Sox demons. ...

Amazingly, Burnett doesn’t even accept the reality of the Red Sox situation. ... "I'm not in Toronto anymore so I'm tired of hearing that. That’s just retarded. ..."

Oh, really. Of the 11 times in his career Burnett has allowed at least eight runs, four have come against the Red Sox. ...

To make matters worse, Burnett had the chance to make a statement against David Ortiz in the first inning, but once again allowed Big Papi to get the best of the Yankees with a rocket two-run home run into right-center. ...

Burnett came into the game having allowed three earned runs or less in nine of his previous 12 starts, but none of those starts were against the Red Sox. ...

It's one thing for overachieving Freddy Garcia to melt down against Boston. It's another for the underachieving Burnett to once again turn into a puddle of goo.

Stefan Bondy, Daily News:

Brett Gardner's mental lapse ruined what might have been a big inning Wednesday night, and the Yankees never recovered from his blunder.

With the bases loaded in the sixth inning and the Yankees trailing by three, Alfredo Aceves' wild pitch went past the catcher and off the wall ... But the team's fastest player hesitated with one out, saying he thought the pitch hit Derek Jeter. ...

Gardner would have scored even if Jeter was hit by the pitch, leaving him no reason to hesitate. ...

Jeter punctuated the missed opportunity by grounding into a double play two pitches later, just as the crowd was starting to believe the Yankees could climb out of the 7-0 hole.

Mark Hale, Post:

Career hit No. 2,990 could have been huge for Derek Jeter.

Instead, a huge sixth-inning at-bat turned into a double play that helped seal the Yankees' fate in last night's 11-6 loss to the Red Sox. ...

[Jeter] has been brutal in the clutch this season, with last night offering further evidence. ... For the year, Jeter's hitting a miserable .167 (10-for-60) with runners in scoring position.

Mark Feinsand, Daily News:

Joba Chamberlain became the latest member of the Bombers bullpen to land on the disabled list, sidelined by a strained flexor tendon in his elbow. ... [H]e's likely to miss at least a month overall. ...

Chamberlain has been receiving treatment for the elbow for nearly two weeks, and while he pitched only three times during the Yankees' nine-game West Coast trip, two of the three games featured his highest pitch counts of the season, including a baffling 35-pitch outing on Sunday. ...

Girardi dismissed the idea that the 35-pitch inning had anything to do with Chamberlain's trip to the DL ... Girardi went against his standard rules for relievers three weeks ago, pitching Chamberlain on three straight days May 15-17. Based on the timeline given by Girardi and Chamberlain, his problems began shortly after that period.