Michael Pineda was good. The offense was not.
Two years after being acquired, Michael Pineda finally took the mound in a Yankees' uniform in a regular season game. He did not disappoint. After two tough early innings, Pineda shut down the Blue Jays over the next four, allowing just one run in his six innings. The lineup and the bullpen could not do anything for Pineda, though. The offense managed no runs and the bullpen made a comeback even more difficult and in the end the Blue Jays won 4-0.
The Blue Jays struck first with a run in the bottom of the second. Adam Lind led off the inning with a double. After a failed bunt attempt by Brett Lawrie, Lind scored when Josh Thole dropped a single into left field. Despite another hit by Ryan Goins, Pineda escaped the inning without allowing any more runs.
The Yankees could have and should have tied the game in the top of the third. Francisco Cervelli led off with a double. After Yangervis Solarte and Dean Anna both struck out, Jacoby Ellsbury came to the plate. Ellsbury singled to center and Cervelli was sent home. Blue Jays' catcher Josh Thole caught the throw home and tagged Cervelli out. However it looked as if Thole was blocking the plate and Cervelli might have gotten his foot in before the tag anyway. Joe Girardi asked the umpires to review the play and they did. The call got upheld and the score stayed at 1-0.
Both offenses then stalled for a while. After the first two innings, Pineda was excellent. The problem was the Yankees couldn't get anything going against R.A. Dickey. They had a decent chance in the top of the sixth, when they had first and second with nobody out. But a Carlos Beltran double play and a Brian McCann ground out ended that.
Pineda's day finished after the bottom of the sixth. He went six innings, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts. Pineda's first game back could not have gone a whole lot better.
Vidal Nuno came in to start the seventh, but after walking Adam Lind, he was replaced by David Phelps. Phelps got the three outs relatively easily, keeping the score at 1-0.
In the eighth inning, Ellsbury singled and Jeter walked, again putting two on with no one out. But once again, the Yankees couldn't do anything in that situation. Beltran struck out, McCann grounded out and Alfonso Soriano chased a pitch out of the zone for strike three.
Phelps came back out for the eighth inning. After getting Jonathan Diaz to ground out, Phelps allowed a home run to Melky Cabrera. That doubled the Blue Jays' lead. Phelps then allowed a double to Colby Rasmus and another home run to Jose Bautista. The score was now at 4-0. Phelps struck out Edwin Encarnacion and Lind, but the damage was done.
With two outs in the ninth Solarte walked and Brian Roberts singled to keep the game alive. Ellsbury was having a good day at the plate, but he couldn't add to it and struck out to end the game. The Blue Jays came away with a 4-0 win.
The Yankees will finish up their series in Toronto tomorrow at 1:05 eastern. CC Sabathia will get the start for the Yankees while Drew Hutchison will go for the Blue Jays.