After A.J. Burnett lost to the Twins in Minnesota Sunday afternoon, the Toronto right-hander fell to 2-4 with a 5.19 ERA away from Rogers Centre. That ERA contrasts sharply with his 2.28 mark at home, a difference of 2.91 runs per nine innings. Only 11 major league pitchers with a better ERA at home have a bigger difference between their home and road averages.

Maybe that shouldn’t be surprising, as Burnett is a hurler of extreme splits this season.

Splits for A.J. Burnett, 2007

Split. . . . . . . . . . . . GS. . . . .W-L. . . . . . .ERA. . . . . OBA

Home. . . . .. . . . . . . 4. . . . . .3-0. . . . . . . 2.28. . . . . .184
Road. . . . . . . . . . . . 7. . . . . .2-4. . . . . . . 5.19. . . . . .226

Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. . . . . .0-3. . . . . . . 6.26. . . . . .244
Night. . . . . . . . . . . . 7. . . . . 5-1. . . . . . . 3.00. . . . . .192

vs. AL East. . . . . . . . .5. . . . . 4-0. . . . . . . 1.98. . . . . .171
vs. AL Cen. . . . . . . . .5. . . . . 1-3. . . . . . . 7.00. . . . . .248

Burnett probably wouldn't mind taking Roger Clemens' pitching arrangement with Houston to the next level, and pitch only night games at home this season. . . unless, of course, he's facing division rivals. Burnett has worked quality starts in four of his five outings against teams in the AL East, and picked up his only two road wins in Baltimore and New York.

Although Burnett’s opponent batting average is respectable even on the bad side of the splits, the ERAs are inflated because of the longball. That’s especially true of his road numbers. Burnett has held hitters to a .226 average away from Rogers Centre, but he’s given up eight home runs in seven road starts.

For the season, the Jays’ righty has allowed 12 homers in 71 innings. That’s an average of 1.52 home runs per nine innings, and only nine pitchers who qualify for an ERA title have given up a higher average.

Nine of Burnett’s 12 home runs allowed this season have come in his last six starts. Hitters have batted just .206 against him in this stretch, but he’s gone just 3-3 with longballs taking his team out of games

Burnett gave up just 12 homers in all of 2005, when he worked 209 innings for the Florida Marlins. Welcome to the American League, A.J.