PHILADELPHIA — A.J. Burnett can’t watch games on TV. Gets too angry. He wants to help, wants to grab his phone and fire off texts to pitching coach Ray Searage with an outsider’s advice. So he finally got to a Pirates game Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park, his first time back at a major league park since retiring last October after 17 seasons in the game.
Opinions are split on whether Burnett’s reappearance was the difference in the Pirates’ 15-2 win against the Philadelphia Phillies, but all sides agree he and Andrew McCutchen conspired to create the Pirates’ power play.