That 2 2/3-inning, five-run outing against the Red Sox is fading farther and further into the background.

"It's a lot better," Burnett said. "There's still a lot of work to be done, obviously. Every time out, you learn something. I'm just looking forward to getting out there again, because the more you get out there, the more comfortable you get."

"He's throwing a lot of fastballs in and he's aggressive," said catcher Francisco Cervelli. "It's strike one, and that's it. It's simple when you hit 96."

Burnett lamented just one bad pitch from his afternoon, a meaty sixth-inning fastball that Vernon Wells belted for a solo home run over the left-field wall.

Coupled with a fourth-inning RBI single by Alex Rios, that was all the Jays would score against Burnett, who lost to mentor Roy Halladay on May 12 at Toronto in a contest that racked his emotions much more than this one.

"It's completely different -- it wasn't even close," Burnett said. "As soon as they got in the box today for the first time, it was kind of weird, but then I just went about my business."

Battling through a 12-game dry spell without an RBI, Cano put an end to that string by slugging a solo home run to right-center field, putting the Yankees on the board in the second inning against Tallet.

The shot helped back Burnett, but did not completely erase Cano's troubles. Five of Cano's past eight RBIs have come via home run, and he extended his struggles to 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position in the fifth inning when he grounded into a bases-loaded fielder's choice that cut Mark Teixeira down at the plate.

"[The home run] feels good, but I've still got to get better with men on base," Cano said. "That's something I don't want to go through, but this is the game."

New York scored twice in the fifth against Tallet without getting a ball out of the infield.