Sometimes,🌳 you simply can pick up a pattern. Take right-hander Michael Pineda’s start for the Yankees against t✱he Rays on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
So what did you like about him, Joe Girardi?
“Pretty much 🐽everything,” the manager said. “His slider wasꦜ good, his changeup was really good but his fastball was really effective. I thought he located well.”
How about you, Chris Young? You watched most of it from the ben🦋ch 🦄before entering in the eighth.
“Everything,” Young said. “The action on his fastballꦿ was unbelievable. He kept guys off balance, he hit his spots. He pitched an amazing game.”
And then go rig🎃ht to ꦿthe source. What did you think worked, Michael Pineda?
“Everything was good,” said Pineda, who had his fourth career double-digit strꦜikeout game second this season (he had 16 versus Baltimore on May 10).
So if you haven’t figured out that “everything” was working for Pineda in his seven-plus 🅺scoreless innings that included 10 strikeouts, well, you never will.
One element that was absent for Pineda in the Yankees’ 3-2 walk-off victory was a decision. Pineda left with a 2-0 lead, but the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen had a rare flub as Dellin Betances surrendeꦿred a two-run, game-tying homeꦚr in the top of the ninth. No matter, Pineda said.
“I want to win, but I’m focusing on my te🅰am winning,” Pineda said. “I bel✨ieve in my guy Betances.”
Pineda surrendered five hits and walked just one in his second strong start following a brutal 11-8 loss to Philadelphia (3 ¹/₃ innings, 11 hits, e🥃i✱ght earned runs) June 22. Pineda said it was big to follow with a second good start after that dismal effort — and even bigger because of the opponent.
“Very important for me because I want to pitch good games and help my team get a win. And in the division everything is close so I was happy with that,” said Pineda, who retired 12 in a row before a leadoff double in the eighth by Curt Casal♓i brought on the bullpen.
Pineda said he felt strong an❀d could have continued.
“I was feeling good and I love pitching,” he said. And he insisted he feels strong on the season, even as he nears 100 innings for the first ti🎀me since 2011🐬 (171 with Seattle), the season before he sat a year with shoulder surgery.
“I feel very good🅺. Feeling very strong. In 2011, I threw (171 innings). After that, in a couple years I threw (124²/₃ total),” Pineda said, stressing he is focus🦋ed on keeping his “shoulder and legs” strong. “I’m feeling very good.”
No arguments Saturday.
“His 💟slider got better throughout the game,” catcher John Ryan Murphy said. “Ten strikeouts speaks for itself. The third, fourth inning is when you saw him turn the corner and he was pretty much lights out after that.”
That’s what happens when everything is working.