New York Yankees

A.J. Burnett’s recent struggles are not a secret.  When you have a June ERA of 10.35 and WHIP of 2.00, it’s kind of hard to hide.  Let’s dissect his numbers in June and see if we can pinpoint where things have gone off course:

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera almost had flashbacks to 2001 when he lost the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In that game, it all started with a bloop single.

Last night a 10th inning rally by the Diamondbacks started the same way. After center fielder Curtis Granderson gave the Yankees a 6-5 lead with a solo home run in the top half of the 10th, Rivera came out to work his second inning of the night.

It wasn't a classic to begin the evening, with lots of walks and terrible clutch hitting, but last night's New York Yankees-Arizona Diamondbacks matchup ended up being a really good baseball game.

It had everything in the latter innings: great defensive plays, big hits (although not enough), and some stellar clutch pitching by the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history, Mariano Rivera.

It was definitely not the most well-played game ever, but it was an instant classic for the 2010 season—at least for the Yankees, anyway.

The Bombers went into the ninth inning trailing 5-4. Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher both walked to lead off the inning against Aaron Heilman. Mark Teixeira’s ground ball moved them to second and third, and A-Rod hit a sacrifice fly to score Jeter.

The Yankees beat the Diamondbacks 9-3 last night behind a strong seven-inning performance by Andy Pettitte and a big home run by Alex Rodriguez . The score was a lot closer until the eighth inning when the Yankees broke it open with six runs in the inning.

Here are some notes:

It's a good thing the New York Yankees starting pitchers have been able to go deep into ballgames most of the season. It is, however, a long season, and the bullpen will need to step up and win some games for this club.

Do you feel confident they can? I sure don't. Outside of Mariano Rivera , who is having yet another excellent season, the Yankees bullpen is full of question marks.

As a fan of the New York Yankees, an American League East team, it is easy to forget about the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The last time the two faced each other was back in 2007, at the old Yankee Stadium.

Looking at the bigger picture, the D-backs pose no real threat to the Yankees, whose hopes are to repeat as World Series Champions.

The New York Yankees beat the New York Mets for the second game in a row to win the series, but this weekend a lot more changed for the Bombers.

Even though the New York Yankees are in 1st place in the AL East and currently hold the best record in all of Major League Baseball, there are still a plethora of trade rumors and debates taking place in the Bronx.

With the main areas of concern being the bullpen, the bench, and the outfield; everyone seems to have their own opinion about what the Bronx Bombers should do on their quest for their 28th World Series Championship.

Lady Gaga, please stay away from baseball games and don’t come back to Yankee Stadium or Citi-Field again.