Wake Up With Michael Pineda Carrying A Perfect Game Into The Seventh On Opening Day
Michael Pineda’s a weird cat, man. Take last year for example — Pineda led the American League in strikeouts per nine innings (10.6), but he was also 11th in hits per nine innings (9.4), and tied for seventh in home runs per nine innings (1.4). Pretty odd when you have a guy who’s almost just as likely to strike you out as he is to allow a hit, while there’s a pretty decent chance that hit could be a home run.
In his first outing of the year, also against the Rays, Pineda couldn’t even make it out of the fourth inning, allowing four earned runs on eight hits. Then, he comes back five days later and carves up the same lineup, carrying a perfect game through six and two thirds, striking out 11, and allowing just one earned run on two hits through seven and two thirds.
Of those two hits, one was the double by Evan Longoria to break up the perfect game, and the other was a solo shot by Logan Morrison, the second to last batter that Pineda faced. I suppose it’s also worth noting that Pineda only reached double digit strikeouts twice last year, his first coming on his 16th start of the season, and here he is with an 11-strikeout performance two starts in to 2017.
Are the Yankees back? Well, it’s hard to say.