Yankees cannot complete comeback from poor start from Pineda in 5-3 loss

The Yankees came into Tuesday night’s game following an embarrassing 12-2 loss at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The box score of that game was rough in a game that the Yankees felt like they had to have to win the series. With Michael Pineda squaring off against Zack Greinke in game two, things looked bleak from the beginning of game two. Once again, Pineda had a poor outing, one that led to Joe Girardi and Larry Rothschild ultimately expressing their disappointment in Pineda in the dugout.

Picture Credit: Ross D. Franklin-AP

Tuesday May 17, 2016: New York Yankees 3 @ Arizona Diamondbacks 5

Winning Pitcher: Zack Greinke (4-3, 5.08 ERA) – 7.0+ IP, 5 H 3 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

Losing Pitcher: Michael Pineda (1-5 6.60 ERA) – 5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 9 K, 1 HR
Save: Brad Ziegler (8)

First Inning:

The first inning was uneventful as the Yankees went down in order. The Diamondbacks picked up two hits, but Michael Pineda picked off leadoff batter Jean Segura. Paul Goldschmidt would also get a hit but the Diamondbacks could not bring him around. (Scoreless)

Second Inning:

Starlin Castro opened up the scoring with his 5th home run of the season, a solo shot off Zack Greinke. However, as typical with Yankee pitchers, Pineda gave the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning on an 0-2 pitch to .183 hitter in the 8-hole, Nick Ahmed. (Tied 1-1)

Picture Credit: Ross D. Franklin-AP

Third Inning:

Greinke settled down after serving up a home run to Castro and set the Yankees down in order. Goldschmidt would drive home the second Arizona run on an RBI single. Wellington Castillo would drive home the 3rd Arizona run on the night on an RBI single. (Diamondbacks 3-1)

Picture Credit: Norm Hall-Getty Images

Fourth Inning:

Both teams went down in order. (Diamondbacks 3-1)

Fifth Inning:

The Yankees went down 1-2-3. After a walk to Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb hit his second home run of the series, a 2-run shot to give the Diamondbacks a 5-1 lead. (Diamondbacks 5-1)

Sixth Inning:

Dustin Ackley would enter as a pinch hitter for Pineda and would hit a single, but that’s all the Yankees could muster against Greinke. Chasen Shreve entered the game and allowed a leadoff single to Ahmed. Then, with Greinke bunting, Brian McCann allowed a passed ball. His lackadaisical play allowed Ahmed to go all the way from first to third. Still, Shreve would work out of the jam unscathed. (Diamondbacks 5-1)

Seventh Inning:

Castro picked up his second hit of the game, and the Yankees 3rd of the game, a single up the middle. Unfortunately, the Yankees couldn’t string together any more hits. Shreve then sat the Dbacks down in order. (Diamondbacks 5-1)

Eighth Inning:

Didi Gregorius would single leading off the eighth inning. After falling behind 3-0 to Aaron Hicks, Hicks would loft one into right field for a single moving Gregorius from first to third. Serving up back to back hits, Greinke would leave the game as Carlos Beltran entered the game to pinch hit for Shreve, and Daniel Hudson came on for the Diamondbacks. An RBI groundout off the glove of Hudson scores Gregorius moving the score to 5-2. Jacoby Ellsbury would follow that up with an RBI single scoring Hicks, pushing the score to 5-3. But Hudson would fight back striking out both Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira to avoid any further damage. Kirby Yates entered for the Yankees for the bottom of the 8th. One of the unsung heroes of the pen, Yates set down the side in order. (Diamondbacks 5-3)

Ninth Inning:
Diamondbacks submarine closer Brad Ziegler came on for the save in the ninth. Ziegler would issue a 2-out walk to Chase Headley allowing the tying run to come to the plate in Didi Gregorius. All Didi was able to do was weakly groundout to second base. (Diamondbacks 5-3)

Conclusion: 
The Yankees already appear to have a short-leash on Michael Pineda, and he was not happy about that. Pineda was seen pressing Rothschild to give him one more inning, but the Yankee pitching coach would not give in, leading Pineda to slam his cup and sulk in the dugout. Pineda is notorious for expressing poor body language and this scene was no different. The Yankees would fight back but come up short in their comeback efforts. Although 3 runs typically is not enough to win a game anyways, they were adversely affected by yet another disappointing start from Big Mike.

Picture Credit: Ross D. Franklin-AP

Article by: Chad Raines

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