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Rangers-Yankees Preview

Apr 17, 2010 - 5:13 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Texas (5-4) at New York (6-3), 1:05 p.m. EDT

In last year's postseason run to the World Series, A.J. Burnett was awful on the road. His October starts at Yankee Stadium produced much better results.

Making his first home start of 2010, Burnett will try to lead the New York Yankees to their second straight win over the Texas Rangers.

Burnett went 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA in 33 starts last year as New York won its first World Series since 2000. He was 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in two playoff road starts compared to 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three postseason outings at home, and beat Philadelphia in Game 2 of the World Series.

Burnett (1-0, 3.75) bounced back from a rough season debut in Boston on April 6 with a solid 92-pitch outing in Sunday's 7-3 victory at Tampa Bay. The right-hander allowed two first-inning runs but gave up just four hits in the next six frames.

"You give up two early, but you've still this lineup behind you, so you do your best to keep to try and keep them in it," said Burnett, 3-2 with a 3.78 ERA in eight career starts versus Texas. "It feels good to have shutdown innings and keep these guys in it because it's just a matter of time before they explode."

The Yankees (7-3) didn't have much time to explode in Friday's series opener, a 5-1 rain-shortened victory. The six-inning win gave New York its best 10-game start since opening 9-1 in 2003.

"At this point we're just trying to win games," said Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who extend his hitting streak to 10 and improved his batting average to .348 with his fourth straight two-hit game.

Second baseman Robinson Cano also hit safely in his 10th straight game Friday with a infield single in the fourth inning. It's the first time since at least 1952 that two Yankees have had 10-game hitting streaks to open a season.

The double-play duo will look to continue their respective runs Saturday against Scott Feldman (1-0, 2.57). The right-hander makes his first start on the road this season after a 9-2 win over Seattle on Sunday.

Feldman allowed two runs - one earned - and seven hits over seven innings. He also retired the final seven batters faced.

"He used all his pitches," said Rangers manager Ron Washington. "They tried to work him. He bent, but he didn't break. He's establishing himself."

Feldman is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three career starts versus the Yankees.

While the Rangers (5-5) could use another strong effort from Feldman to avoid their first three-game losing streak this season, Washington would like to see better defense. Jeter scored in the first inning on a passed ball by Taylor Teagarden, and the Yankees added two in the fourth following a throwing error by first baseman Chris Davis

"We've just gotta tighten up our defense," said Washington, whose team has six errors in the last five games. "We're just not making the plays."

Three-time Gold Glove first baseman Mark Teixeira has been making his share of defensive plays, but the Yankees' slugger and last season's MVP runner-up is still without a home run. Teixeira, who hit a league-best 39 homers with 122 RBIs in 2009, is batting .083 with four RBIs.

Jeter is 2 for 9 lifetime versus Feldman. Both hits are home runs.