Pineda ‘battled’ in defeat

Michael Pineda couldn’t find his fastball. He had “basically zero” command on it, according to manager Joe Girardi.

And somehow, Pineda still gave the Yankees a chance to end their longest losing streak of the season. This year — coming off a 6-12 campaign, with a 4.82 ERA — Pineda provides at least that much in nearly every outing.

While Pineda initially looked like he would be culpable for the team’s seventh straight loss Tuesday night, the right-hander recovered, and continued his series of solid starts at home, receiving a no-decision in the 8-3 loss to the Angels after allowing one earned run over 5 2/3 innings.

Pineda, who is 6-1 with a 1.92 ERA at home this season, allowed three runs (one earned) and seven hits, while striking out seven and walking one.

“I thought he battled really, really well tonight considering he had no location on his fastball, basically zero, and he found a way to get through six innings for us,” Girardi said. “He seemed a little bit better at the end, but he really struggled with his command and found a way to get through it, so I give him some credit for that.”

Pineda was on track to be pulled before the sun even set, giving up a double, a walk and a single to the first three batters he faced. When the first inning was over, the Angels only scored one run, but Pineda needed 27 pitches to end the frame.

The second inning was even worse, starting with Chris Carter committing a fielding error, which allowed Eric Young Jr. to reach base. Danny Espinosa followed two batters later with an RBI double, and Kole Calhoun added a single to put the Angels up 3-0, though both runs were unearned because of Carter’s gaffe.

After allowing a season-high five runs and 10 hits to the Angels last week, Pineda had thrown 49 pitches through two innings.

“Some games you don’t have your best stuff, but you need to figure it out on the mound and keep working and try to execute the pitches and make adjustments,” Pineda said.

The right-hander would never find his best stuff, but he managed to quiet the Angels’ offense, retiring nine straight hitters at one point. Pineda, who threw 105 pitches (67 strikes), registered five of his strikeouts after the third inning.