Tonight's Pitching Matchup: Yankees vs. Rangers Game 4

Whether you have faith in A.J. or have faith in the Yankees...or not, tonight is a big game. With the Yankees down 2-1, they need a good outing from the enigmatic starter. On the other hand, the young Tommy Hunter goes for the Rangers. Here's the match-up

A.J. Burnett vs. the Rangers hitters (including playoffs)

	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SF	IBB	HBP	GDP
Matt Treanor	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.000	1.000	1.000	2.000	0	0	0	0
Josh Hamilton	19	16	4	2	0	1	3	2	2	.250	.368	.563	.931	0	0	1	0
David Murphy	22	17	5	0	0	1	2	4	4	.294	.455	.471	.925	0	0	1	0
Nelson Cruz	18	14	2	1	0	1	4	4	8	.143	.333	.429	.762	0	0	0	0
Vladimir Guerrero	60	56	13	6	0	2	6	4	13	.232	.283	.446	.730	0	1	0	2
Mike Young	37	36	9	1	0	1	1	1	6	.250	.270	.361	.631	0	0	0	0
Ian Kinsler	22	20	4	0	0	1	4	1	4	.200	.273	.350	.623	0	0	1	0
Elvis Andrus	17	14	3	0	0	0	0	2	4	.214	.353	.214	.567	0	0	1	0
Bengie Molina	5	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200	.200	.200	.400	0	0	0	0
Julio Borbon	9	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	.111	.111	.111	.222	0	0	0	1
Jorge Cantu	15	15	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	.067	.067	.067	.133	0	0	0	0
Jeff Francoeur	9	7	0	0	0	0	2	1	2	.000	.111	.000	.111	1	0	0	0
Cliff Lee	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0
Mitch Moreland	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0
Total	238	213	44	10	0	7	24	20	50	.207	.286	.352	.638	1	1	4	3

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/19/2010.

An interesting mixture here. Josh Hamilton and David Murphy (the two big lefties in the order) have hit Burnett hard and Nelson Cruz and Vladamir Guerrero have been a mixed bag against A.J. But the rest of the Rangers order have mostly struggled including Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus and Bengie Molina (a combined 17 for 75 with 14 Ks vs. Burnett). Burnett has pitched pretty well against the Rangers over his career, going  4-3 with a 3.66 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) and 71.1 innings, giving up 62 hits, striking out 78 (over a batter an inning) and walking only 25.

In 2010, Burnett faced the Rangers 3 times, earning one win and two no decisions in 3 starts. On April 17th, Burnett went 7 innings in the Bronx, scattering 6 hits, giving up no runs, walking only 2 and striking out 7. His second start, August 10th in Arlington, Burnett also went 7 innings, with 6 hits, but this time gave up 3 runs, walking two and striking out 4. His last start against the Rangers was on September 11th on the road and he only lasted 4 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 runs, walking 3 and striking out 6. Overall in those three games baserunners were 3 for 3 stealing bases against Burnett and he threw two wild pitches (though on the plus side, he didn't hit anyone with a pitch).

Tommy Hunter vs. the Yankees hitters

	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Francisco Cervelli	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	1.000	1.000	1.000	2.000
Curtis Granderson	6	6	4	0	0	1	1	0	1	.667	.667	1.167	1.833
Derek Jeter	3	3	2	1	0	0	2	0	1	.667	.667	1.000	1.667
Lance Berkman	5	4	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.500	.600	.500	1.100
Robinson Cano	5	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.400	.400	.600	1.000
Mark Teixeira	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.333	.333	.333	.667
Brett Gardner	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.333	.000	.333
Alex Rodriguez	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.000	.200	.000	.200
Ramiro Pena	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Nick Swisher	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000
Total	37	33	12	2	0	1	5	4	10	.364	.432	.515	.948

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/19/2010.

It's not a robust history but with the Yankees' recent history against newbies, they should be thankful they faced Hunter before. Overall Hunter is 0-1 in two starts and 9.1 innings against the Yankees in his career, with a 6.75 ERA, 14 hits, 12 Ks, and 3 walks. On September 11th he faced off against A.J. and lasted exactly one more inning, going 5 innings, giving up 2 runs, 6 hits, walking 3 and striking out 8. He also go a no-decision in that contest. Stephen R. at TYU has 10 Tommy Hunter facts to "warm your heart"

A big pitching match-up tonight in the Bronx starting in less than 3 hours