April 23, 2014

Pineda Pinched

Umpires tossed Michael Pineda due to a substance on his neck:

In a bizarre sequel to an April 10 game between the Yankees and Red Sox, in which Pineda was suspected of having pine tar on the palm of his pitching hand, Red Sox manager John Farrell asked home plate umpire Gerry Davis to check Pineda.

After a mound conference in which Davis checked Pineda’s hand, the ball, and finally, the right side of his neck, Pineda was ejected from the game. At the time, Pineda had a 1-2 count on Grady Sizemore. He was replaced by David Phelps, who completed the strike out.

Pineda had had a difficult first inning, allowing two runs on four hits, including a leadoff triple by Sizemore, although two of the hits were a bloop single that dropped into short right-field, and a grounder up the middle that skipped between Derek Jeter‘s legs.

I suspect if Pineda was pitching better, the checking for the substance would have been more advantageous. It will be interesting to see what Michael has to say about this after the game.

The Red Sox lead the Yankees 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth.

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