[Note by Ed Valentine, 08/14/11 11:37 AM EDT: Sunday's game at Yankee Stadium has been postponed by rain. No makeup date has been announced.]
All the gnashing of teeth lately over who would be the odd man out among the six New York Yankees starting pitchers, and it turns out that an injury has settled the debate. At least for now. A.J. Burnett will get the ball for the Yankees Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays in place fo Freddy Garcia, who recently suffered a cut on his pitching hand in what manager Joe Girardi called "a kitchen accident."
Girardi admitted to having known about Garcia's situation for several days, and said he hoped the veteran pitcher would miss only one start. Garcia is 10-7 with a surprisingly good 3.16 ERA this season. Burnett is 8-9 with a 4.60 ERA and is winless in his last seven starts.
Phil Hughes made a good impression Sunday in his bid to stay in the starting rotation, giving up two runs in six innings as he improved to 3-4 on the season. In his last two starts Hughes has allowed only two runs and seven hits over 12 innings.