Michael Pineda started against The Scum last night, and he was nearly as good as CC Sabathia was last night: 7 innings, 1 run (unearned), 4 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts. He was so good that Joe Girardi actually allowed him to throw 110 pitches -- 15 over Binder Boy's usual limit.
Granted, Girardi used 3 pitchers to get the last 6 outs (Adam Warren, Yeovani Gallegos and Dellin Betances), but except for Betances loading the bases in the 9th thanks to 2 walks and an error, and putting the game oh-so-slightly back into doubt, they were perfect.
As for the bats: David Price, a Yankee nemesis going back to the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, had nothing. Gary Sanchez was kraken 2 home runs, giving him 8 on the season, and had 5 RBIs. Brett Gardner hit his 13th home run of the season. It's June 9 (well, it was June 8 last night), and the speed guy has 13 homers!
Always good to beat The Scum: Yankees 9, Red Sox 1. WP: Pineda (7-3). No save necessary. LP: Price (1-1).
The Sox slink back up Interstate 95 3 games, 4 in the loss column, behind the Yankees. The Baltimore Orioles are 3 1/2 back, also 4 back in the loss column. The Tampa Bay Rays are 5 1/2 back, and the Toronto Blue Jays 6 1/2 back, both 8 back in the loss column. (The Yankees still have a game in hand on the O's, 2 on the Sox, 3 on the Jays and 5 on the Rays.)
The O's come in for 3 games. Here are the projected pitching matchups:
* Tonight, 7:35: Jordan Montgomery vs. Dylan Bundy. Tonight is Reggie Jackson Bobblehead Night, in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Mr. October's major league debut (albeit that for the Kansas City Athletics).
* Tomorrow, 7:15: Luis Severino vs. Chris Tillman.
* Sunday, 1:05: Kevin Gausman goes for the O's, while the Yankees' starter is listed as "Undecided." This means that Girardi is seriously considering skipping Masahiro Tanaka's place in the rotation.
Then the Yankees fly out to the West Coast, for 3 games in Anaheim and 4 in Oakland.