Yankees vs. Royals Preview
KANSAS CITY (AP) – New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman recently defended the performance of A.J. Burnett this season. Now the veteran gets another chance to prove why Cashman has so much faith in him.
Burnett tries again for his first victory in August with the New York Yankees when they open a three-game road set Monday night against the Kansas City Royals.
Although Burnett (8-9, 4.60 ERA) is 0-3 with a 6.00 ERA in his last seven starts and 0-8 with a 7.18 ERA in 13 career August outings with New York (72-46), Cashman believes the right-hander is being unjustly attacked due to his four-year, $82.5 million contract.
“I think he’s being treated differently publicly because he has money attached,” Cashman said. “The man can still pitch. The man is a starter. He can still help us significantly.”
Burnett, who gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings and did not receive a decision in Tuesday’s 6-4 loss to the Angels, was grateful for the support.
“That’s awesome,” Burnett told the Yankees’ official website. “One thing about Cash is, he’s always had my back.”
Burnett was scheduled to pitch Sunday against Tampa Bay, but the finale of that weekend series was rained out. He’s 3-3 with a 2.52 ERA in nine career starts against Kansas City.
According to MLB odds and oddsmakers have made the Yankees -150 money line favorites for Monday’s game against the Royals. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 85% of more than 609 bets for this game have been placed on the Yankees -150.
The Royals (50-71) took two of three May 10-12 at New York for their first series win in the Bronx since 1999. Rookie Eric Hosmer went 4 for 12 with two homers and Melky Cabrera also homered twice in his first games against his former team.
“When you play a team like the Yankees, you know the history and the tradition,” third baseman Mike Moustakas told the Royals’ official website. “You know all the greats that have played for them. … (But) baseball is baseball. They’ve got great players on their team, we’ve got great players over here.”
Cabrera went 13 for 29 with two homers and eight RBIs on the Royals’ 1-6 road trip capped by Sunday’s 6-2 loss to the White Sox. He’s 2 for 19 against Burnett.
The Yankees are beginning a seven-game trip and can tie Boston for the AL East lead with a victory Monday. They have won 11 of 15 games, and expect Alex Rodriguez to rejoin the team later this week.
“This club has persevered,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We’ve talked about guys stepping up.”
Curtis Granderson homered six times, scored seven runs and drove in eight over New York’s last five games. Jorge Posada, benched last Sunday at Boston, could be in the lineup for the series opener after he had a grand slam and a season-high six RBIs in Saturday’s 9-2 win over the Rays.
The Royals have lost all five starts since the All-Star break by Felipe Paulino (1-4, 3.45), who is 0-2 with a 3.56 ERA in that span. He allowed one run over five innings and left with back stiffness Wednesday as he did not get a decision in an 8-7 loss at Tampa Bay.
The right-hander has never faced the Yankees. His teams have scored an average of 2.90 runs per nine innings of support for him – the second-lowest among pitchers with at least 45 starts since 1974 to Jason Isringhausen’s 2.83 mark.
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