Pineda (and the bullpen) held the Orioles to just one hit tonight.
Tonight's game kicked off Derek Jeter's final series in New York, and the Captain continued what is now a six-game hitting streak. The offense had a pretty good night altogether, with Jose Pirela making a fantastic MLB debut. Even more impressive was Michael Pineda, who pitched a nearly perfect game as the Yankees went on to shut out the Orioles.
It wasn't until the fifth inning that the Orioles were finally able to get a hit off of Pineda, in the form of a single by J.J. Hardy. That would stand as the only hit of the game. Pineda ended his night in the eighth inning after allowing his one and only walk to Christian Walker. Tonight's effort, in which he struck out eight batters, lowered his ERA to 1.93 with 0.86 WHIP (!). This win might have been too little, too late for the team to make the playoffs, but Pineda was phenomenal and it's great to see him healthy. Shawn Kelley (2 Ks), Rich Hill (1 K, 1 BB) and David Phelps also made it into the game and did not allow a hit between them.
In the bottom of the third inning, Ichiro Suzuki did Ichiro things and reached on a throwing error by Ryan Flaherty. Next up was Jose Pirela, who made his debut tonight by hitting an RBI triple to deep center field. According to the booth, he joined the ranks of Steve Balboni by becoming only the second Yankee to hit a triple in their first at-bat. Jeter ended up driving him in for his first RBI of the night. In Pirela's second at-bat, he singled to center. Brett Gardner worked a walk to put two on base, then Jeter drove in the pair with a double down the left field line. Yeah, Jeets! Chase Headley tacked on the fifth and final run of the night in the eighth inning with a solo shot to Monument Park.
Also of note: Tonight Pirela became the 57th different player to appear in a game this season, which set a franchise record. The previous record of 56 was set last year (of course).
Brandon McCarthy will get the start tomorrow night against Ubaldo Jimenez, who was demoted to the bullpen for a portion of the season. The game starts at 7:05 pm EST.