The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins by a score of 3-2. Starting for the Yankees was A.J. Burnett and he pitched well but didn’t get a decision. Alfredo Aceves got the win. Johnny Damon hit a walk off home run to win the game in the bottom of the 10th inning. Johhny Damon has to be the hottest baseball player in the game right now. I’ve never seem him this hot. If there’s any one you want up at the plate with the game on the line this year, it’s him. He’s the mvp of the Yankees through a month and a half. What a feeling that was, to see the ball hit in the upper deck for the game winning home run. They call the upper deck a nick name that has to do with Johnny Damon but I forgot what it was. Just awesome though. Through most of the game, the Yankee hitters were not taking a lot of pitches and this lead to a low pitch count for Slowey. They didn’t make him work. The Twins walked one batter total. Now to A.J. Burnett. Burnett features two major pitches, a 4-Seam Fastball and a Knuckle-Curve. Burnett’s velocity was excellent and was reaching 93-94 mph and he was reaching 94 up until the seventh inning. He was able to throw his curve down and in and it had a lot of movement. Then he would throw his power fastball that had a lot of life on it and it was hard for the Twins’ hitters to track. He threw one change up in the game that was 88 mph. The spin on his knuckle curve was quick, late and tight and had a 11-13″ break on it. It was very effective. He threw it down and in to lefties in the danger zone and it tempts them to swing at it. You know he had great spin on his curveball because it would stop and break straight down. He was able to variate the break on his knuckle curve through out the game. Burnett threw a lot of first pitch strikes and when he does, batters hit .189 off of him. In the seventh inning Burnett was losing location on his pitches and was all over the place. He left the game with the bases loaded. I don’t know how Jonathan Albaladejo got out of the jam because I didn’t think he would but he did with a 4-Seam Fastball called strike against DH Jason Kubell. The bull pen did it’s job for the most part because Brett Tomko got out of another bases loaded jam left by Albaladejo in the 8th. Then Johnny Damon stepped up to the plate in the 10th and ended it, Yankee style. Great game, great fun, awesome victory.
