PITTSBURGH — A.J. Burnett's first week with the Pittsburgh Pirates ended with a fractured right orbital bone. His first three rehab starts ended with losses, a gaudy 9.53 ERA and concerns the veteran right-hander couldn't become the ace his new team so desperately needs.

Never mind.

Pitching brilliantly after a shaky first inning, the former New York Yankee pitched three-hit ball for seven innings to lift the Pirates to a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

“I've been playing a long time,” Burnett said. “I think coming up here was my time to turn my switch on.”

Consider it flipped.

Burnett, who missed the first three weeks of the year after the ball smacked off his face during a bunting drill in spring training just days after being traded from the Yankees, walked two and struck out seven while dominating baseball's best offensive team.

Joel Hanrahan worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the ninth for his second save of the year.

LOS ANGELES — Lakers forward Metta World Peace was ejected for elbowing Oklahoma City's James Harden in the head Sunday night in a comeback win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.World Peace had just dunked on a fast break and was celebrating his basket while running upcourt when he ran into Harden. While World Peace pounded his chest with his right arm, he threw his left elbow right over Harden's shoulder and into the back of his head.

SAN DIEGO — The Philadelphia Phillies placed Cliff Lee on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday, three days after he strained a muscle in his left side in the 10th inning of his gem at San Francisco.Lee strained his left oblique.

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox acquired center fielder Marlon Byrd from the Chicago Cubs on Saturday in an attempt to shore up their injury-plagued outfield and reverse an early season slide.With Jacoby Ellsbury sidelined by a partially dislocated right shoulder and Carl Crawford rehabbing a left elbow injury, the Red Sox took Byrd off Chicago's hands in exchange for reliever Michael Bowden and a player to be named. The Cubs will pay part of Byrd's salary, which is $6.5 million this year.

NEWARK, N.J. — Herb Turetzky, the Nets’ official scorer, has seen the Nets’ glory days of Julius Erving and the ABA in the opening decade mostly on Long Island to the team’s sometimes laughable struggles in NBA over the last 35 years in New Jersey.The New Jersey chapter will end for all practical purposes Monday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be the Nets’ final home game before a move next season to Brooklyn and the new Barclays Center.