Burnett Strong As Jays Handle Pirates
Posted March 12, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A.J. Burnett promises to be a big part of Toronto’s success should it have any this coming season, and the power righty showed plenty of positive signs Wednesday afternoon while guiding the Blue Jays to a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Burnett worked four strong innings, giving his team plenty of opportunity to grab the lead by allowing just one run and four hits while striking out four and walking one.
The lanky hurler has been limited in his pitch selection because of a broken nail on his index finger, but this time around it didn’t make much of a difference.
“He has a power change and he can live on two pitches,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “That changeup is dropping now, plus he threw a couple of sliders in there, too.”
Burnett’s outing was especially encouraging for the Blue Jays, who lost right-hander Casey Janssen for the season Wednesday because of a torn labrum in his shoulder and also optioned struggling southpaw Gustavo Chacin to Triple-A Syracuse.
At the dish Vernon Wells looked sharp, breaking a 1-1 tie with a towering shot off Zach Duke, who game up two runs and five hits over four.
Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill also continued to swing a hot bat, going 2-for-2 with a walk and raising his average to .500 in Grapefruit League play.
Jays reliever Josh Banks got the save with a perfect ninth.
