Marlins' Burnett goes slow, uses sinker for rapid rise.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Juan C. Rodriguez

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ A.J. Burnett hasn't won seven consecutive starts because hitters are swinging at and missing his 98-mph fastball. He is going for eight in a row on Wednesday night in Milwaukee because they are making contact with his 94-mph fastball.

Sounds like Burnett is slowing down and letting his pursuers draw closer. What he's done is distance himself.

One component of Burnett's stellar run is not relying as much on his four-seam fastball. Instead, he's throwing a two-seamer, or sinker, almost exclusively. The couple of ticks the two-seamer lacks in velocity are made up for in movement.

"It's kind of like a knuckleball," said Marlins starter Brian Moehler, a sinkerball pitcher. "It's there one second and all of a sudden the hitter is there and it moves just a little bit...

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