eight innings of three-hit ball, Robinson Cano homered twice, and the
New York Yankees beat Brian Matusz and the Baltimore Orioles 4-0
Thursday night.
Marcus Thames had three hits and an
RBI for the Yankees, who took two of three from Baltimore to finish a
three-city road trip with a 5-4 record.
Burnett (3-0) struck out four and
walked one to improve to 10-2 lifetime against the Orioles. He allowed
only two runners past first base, and only one reached third.
Burnett has been pitching in the
majors since 1999, and this is the first time he's 3-0.
The right-hander received plenty of
help from Cano, who got three hits to lift his AL-leading batting
average to .407. Cano hit a solo homers in the fourth and eighth
innings, his sixth career multihomer game.
Cano has hit in eight straight games
and is on a 16-for-24 tear.
The defeat dropped Baltimore's record
to 4-18, worst in the majors. The Orioles are 1-8 at home and 3-12
against the AL East.
Matusz (2-1) allowed three runs and
nine hits in six innings. The left-hander had won six straight decisions
since Aug. 15, including at Yankee Stadium in September.
New York got a first-inning run when
Derek Jeter hit a leadoff single, took third on a double by Mark
Teixeira and scored on a fly ball by Alex Rodriguez.
Despite collecting his 13th RBI,
Rodriguez went 0-for-3 and is hitless in his last 19 at-bats.
Cano's first home run made it 2-0 in
the fourth, and successive doubles by Cano and Thames gave the Yankees a
three-run cushion in the sixth.
Cano hit his eighth homer of the
season in the eighth against Alberto Castillo. He has 17 career home
runs against the Orioles, the most against any opponent.
Notes
Cano also made a great
defensive play at 2B, robbing Nolan Reimold of a third-inning hit by
grabbing a grounder up the middle and making a perfect throw to first
from the outfield grass. … Yankees C Jorge Posada was rested but
available after being plunked in the right knee by a pitch on Wednesday
night. … Orioles RHP Koji Uehara (hamstring) pitched a scoreless
inning for Double-A Bowie and will probably come off the 15-day DL next
week.