To his relief, he detected no mechanical flaws, leading him to believe his slump can be traced to a timing problem. I was really worried that it was something mechanical. But fixing it is another matter. When Jones' swing is out of sync, he rolls over the top of the ball and taps it to second. He did it twice Saturday, and also rolled into a double play.
Timing comes and goes.
Jones didn't show much improvement Sunday, managing just one single in five trips, and he left four runners on base. He was irked by home plate umpire Brian O'Nora's strike zone, which TV replays showed was wide and inconsistent. Jones was left standing at home plate at the end of Sunday's game, O'Nora calling strike three on a pitch that was five inches off the plate. Those numbers suggest Burkett is pitching better than most, and being supported the least. He has worked seven innings or more in seven of his last nine starts and allowed more than three earned runs just once during that stretch.