Pineda’s outing rouses opening day crowd
NEW YORK — As Michael Pineda cut through the Tampa Bay Rays’ lineup Monday afternoon, stacking one out on top of another on top of another, an uncommon energy percolated throughout Yankee Stadium.
Outs began to be punctuated by increasingly enthusiastic cheers. Fans began to rise whenever Pineda reached two strikes on a hitter. When Brett Gardner raced toward the left-field line to snag Kevin Kiermaier’s seventh-inning liner, the sellout crowd for the Yankees’ home opener let out a roar, acknowledging what was generally unspoken: Pineda was only seven outs from a perfect game.
“You’re thinking it’s going to be another special day here at the stadium,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I thought he had a shot.”
The dreams of a perfect game — or even a no-hitter — vanished on the next at-bat, however, when Evan Longoria hooked a belt-high slider into the left-field corner for a double. And a shutout disappeared on Logan Morrison’s solo homer in the eighth. But those did little to dampen the enthusiasm surrounding the Yankees’ 8-1 victory over the Rays.
For a team that lost four of its first six games and that had already endured its share of dispiriting injury news, a performance like Pineda’s had a buoyant effect.
If the Yankees, who found out Monday that they would be without catcher Gary Sanchez for four weeks with a strained muscle in his arm — in addition to missing shortstop Didi Gregorius (shoulder) until May — are to stay afloat, they will need to see this type of Pineda more often.
Pineda, a 6-foot-7 righthander with loose limbs and an ample paunch, has been a confounding presence in the Yankees’ rotation for the last three seasons. Blessed with the arsenal of an ace, Pineda has been consistently undone by head-scratching meltdowns. Two years ago, he struck out 16 Baltimore hitters in a game. But he entered Monday with a 23-28 record and a 4.15 earned run average with the Yankees. Last season, opponents batted .328 against him with two outs.
Pineda pledged to improve his focus this season, but in his first start, at Tampa Bay on Wednesday, his third pitch was hit for a home run, he allowed two run-scoring hits with two outs in the second, and he was gone before the fourth inning was finished.
He looked like a different pitcher Monday.
On a 76-degree, sunkissed afternoon — a far cry from last year’s shivering 36-degree home opener — Pineda was constantly ahead of hitters. He walked none; his slider was devastating, responsible for 10 of his 11 strikeouts; and he used his changeup more frequently and with great effect.