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Pavano outduels Burnett as Yankees top Blue Jays

Aug 30, 2008 - 4:07 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- It may be too little, too late, but Carl Pavano is making a contribution to the New York Yankees.

Pavano pitched six strong innings to win his second straight start and Mariano Rivera earned a five-out save as the Yankees edged the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1, in the opener of a three-game series on Friday.

Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi drove in fourth-inning runs for the Yankees, who defeated A.J. Burnett for the first time in four tries this season. However, New York (72-62) remained six games behind Boston (78-56) in the American League wild card race, as the Red Sox defeated the Chicago White Sox on Friday.

Pavano (2-0) made his second start of the season and 21st overall for the Yankees since signing a four-year, $39.95 million contract prior to the 2005 season. A litany of injuries, however, has prevented New York from getting a reasonable return on their investment.

Returning from "Tommy John" surgery, Pavano is doing his best to make the most of the limited window of opportunity.

"We have goals other than my individual goals," he said. "I'm definitely putting those goals ahead of mine. But it's nice to go out there every fifth game and feel good."

Last weekend, Pavano defeated the Baltimore Orioles, tossing five effective innings for his first victory since April 2007. The 32-year-old righthander was even better in a 72-pitch effort on Friday night, allowing one run and three hits in six frames with one walk and one strikeout en route to his first win at Yankee Stadium since April 26, 2005 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

"I think he's got his (good) stuff back because of all the hard work," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Girardi went liberally with his bullpen to protect a 2-1 lead, using in five relievers - including Rivera, who entered with runners on first and second and one out in the eighth.

Rivera got Joe Inglett to ground into a forceout and struck out Marco Scutaro to end the inning. The closer extended his streak to 27 at-bats without allowing a hit before Vernon Wells singled with one out in the ninth, then retired the next two batters for his 32nd save in 33 opportunities.

"We have to do what we have to do to win," said Rivera, who recorded four outs in Thursday's win over Boston. "It's not playoff-type games, but you have to prepare yourself for these situations."

It was Rivera's third five-out save of the season.

"I'll never abuse any pitcher," Girardi said. "Hopefully, they'll be days when we score a lot of runs and we won't have to use him."

Burnett (16-10), who had won his previous six decisions, suffered his first loss since July 18 at Tampa Bay.

He dominated the Yankees in three previous wins this season, allowing just four runs in 22 1/3 innings. In this one, the righthander yielded two runs and seven hits with a walk and eight strikeouts en route to his first complete game of the season.

"We're programmed to go as far as we can and see what happens," Burnett said. "Just keep going out there."

The Yankees scored the only runs Pavano needed in the fourth.

Johnny Damon led off with a single off the right field wall, stole second and scored on an opposite-field double to left by Abreu. Alex Rodriguez delivered an infield single and Giambi drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly.

"The one pitch (to Abreu) was not where I wanted it," Burnett said.

Inglett opened the game with a single, and Pavano heard a smattering of boos. But the oft-injured starter soon won over the crowd when Inglett was erased on a double play.

"I had to make some pitches and got away with a few," Pavano said.

The Blue Jays did not get another hit until Travis Snider, who was promoted from the minor leagues prior to the game, doubled to center field in the sixth for his first major league hit.

"It was always a dream of mine to play in the major leagues," Snider said. "The timing worked out great."

Snider scored on a single by Marco Scutaro that cut the deficit to 2-1.