LYNX: MR. BURNETT COMES TO TOWN.

In a picture perfect day for baseball, the rehabbing A.J. Burnett (0-0, 1.80 ERA) went five innings, putting up seven Ks, one walk and one earned run. He was dominant early, striking out six of the first seven batters he faced in Syracuse's marathon 14 inning affair (box score, play-by-play) with the Lynx this afternoon. At the end of the day, he threw 66 pitches, 45 of those for strikes. Rumors that he was disgruntled about having to make an appearance at the minor league level appear to be completely unfounded; he talked with Ottawa fans, signed autographs and generally seemed to be a pretty happy camper.

Not so the Ottawa Lynx, losing a heartbreaker after coming back to tie it on a clutch three run homer by Gary Burnham. As a team they left twelve base runners stranded, including Jim Rushford who doubled to lead off the 11th inning. Matt Childers (6-2, 5.03 ERA) had a respectable outing, lasting 6 1/3 and giving up a pair of homeruns in the third (the second of which looked foul to our unbiased eye). Having burned through five pitchers today and four yesterday, tomorrow's day off is just what the team needs.

Despite the loss, the big winners on the day were the Ottawa Lynx. A full parking lot and a huge walk-up crowd made for a great day at the ballpark. Actually, the biggest winners for the day were local baseball fans, including one colleague who plunked down his $9 only to discover he would get to witness a classy MLB pitcher to boot.