07-31-2019, 12:58 AM
NEW YORK -- This much is clear: Michael Pineda had a dark substance smudged on his pitching hand during his first win for the New York Yankees. Pine tar or dirt? We might never know. Pineda took a two-hit shutout into the seventh inning, and Jacoby Ellsbury hit an RBI single off old roommate Clay Buchholz in his first game against the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees 4-1 victory Thursday night left a bit of a mystery: Were Pinedas pitches plain old nasty, or was something more sinister involved? "Its dirt," Pineda said. "Between the innings, Im sweating too much, my hand. Im putting dirt -- Im grasping the dirt. ... Im not using pine tar." Ellsbury drew all the pregame attention after switching sides in the rivalry during the off-season. But it was the dark brown, seemingly tacky substance on the lower palm of Pinedas right hand that became the focus. Close-up camera shots showed Pineda (1-1) pitching during the early innings with something on his hand, and there was speculation it was pine tar to help him get a better grip on a chilly night. The game was never stopped for an umpire to examine him, and it whatever it was, it was gone by the fifth. "I became aware of it in the fourth inning through the video that someone had seen," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "And then, when he came back out for the fifth inning, it looked, based on where it was told to me it was located, it looked like the palm of his right hand was clean." Buchholz and fellow Red Sox ace Jon Lester both attracted questions last year about substances they had on the mound, but nothing came of them. "The Red Sox didnt bring it to our attention, so theres nothing we can do about it," umpire crew chief Brian ONora said. "If they bring it to our attention, then youve got to do something." Yankees manager Joe Girardi essentially repeated the same answer five times during his postgame news conference. "I never saw it. Theres nothing really for me to talk about," he said. Making his first Yankee Stadium start 27 months after he was acquired from Seattle, Pineda appeared completely recovered from the shoulder surgery that sidelined him for two years. Throwing at up to 95 mph, he allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked two. Brian McCann ended an 0-for-14 slide with a run-scoring single that put the Yankees ahead during a two-run fourth that also included a run-scoring double-play grounder by Alfonso Soriano. Making just his third big league start after 554 games in the minor leagues, 27-year-old infielder Dean Anna homered as New York made it 4-0 in the fifth. Anna opened spring training wearing No. 93 after six minor league seasons with San Diego, which traded him to New York in November. Now wearing a more respectable No. 45, he was greeted after the homer by Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who gave him a high-five. Anna had received more than 100 emails and texts by the time the game ended, and he even got the ball back. "Words cant explain it. Honestly, they really cant. All the history with these two teams," Anna said. This was slightly different than the way he dreamed it would happen. "In Wrigley Field, actually," he said. "But Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox I think is pretty good, too." After spending nine years in the Red Sox organization and winning World Series titles in 2007 and last year, Ellsbury left for a $153 million, seven-year contract with the Yankees. And his first game put him at the plate against Buchholz (0-1), his roommate at Lowell of the New York-Penn League in their first summer of professional ball. On a 1-for-4 night, Ellsbury reached on third baseman Jonathan Herreras fielding error and scored the games first run in the fourth and singled sharply to left to drive in a run in the fifth. Daniel Nava led off the seventh with a home run into the second deck in right, and Xander Bogaerts single chased Pineda. With David Robertson on the disabled list and Shawn Kelley and Adam Warren unavailable after pitching Wednesday, the Yankees scrambled their bullpen. Cesar Cabral and David Phelps retired Bostons last nine batters -- striking out five -- and Phelps got seven outs for his first career save. "I just figured as long as I was keeping guys off base, they were going to let me go," Phelps said. "Any time you can get a first, as long as its a good first, is always exciting." NOTES: Jeter went 2 for 4 with a double, raising his average to .290. ... The Yankees employed an unusual shift with Grady Sizemore up: Jeter remained at shortstop and rookie Yangervis Solarte moved from third to the first-base side of second; Sizemore grounded out to Solarte in the third. ... CC Sabathia (1-1) is slated to face Lester (0-2) in Fridays second game of the four-game series. Mark Clayton Jersey . "[People] keep asking that question and its not a legit question because we dont have that right, we havent arrived yet," Casey responded. "Weve got to take each game at a time, each possession at a time and look at it that way. Minkah Fitzpatrick Youth Jersey . Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. http://www.authenticdolphinspro.com/Mich...ns-jersey/. And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. Mark Duper Womens Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors reserve centre Ognjen Kuzmic is expected to miss at least six weeks after undergoing surgery on his fractured right hand. Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey . On Sunday, head coach Patrick Roy said the teams leading scorer will skate at Mondays morning practice and the club will make a decision on his status for Game 6 at that point.Montreal mayor Denis Coderre is not about to go apologizing for what he says on his Twitter account, even if it ruffles some feathers with the citys beloved Canadiens. In the midst of the Canadiens Sunday night game against the New York islanders the mayor took to Twitter to chime in his two cents as the Habs tried to lock up two points. "Allo? Un billet simple pour Hamilton pour David Desharnais svp," Corderre tweeted during the Canadiens 4-2 Sunday night victory over the New York Islanders. Translation: "Hello? A one-way ticket to Hamilton for David Desharnais, please." While the comments did not go over very well with either the Canadiens players or head coach, Coderre stood by his tweet as a mark of his true fandom. "Do you want to have a mayor who believes in his team?" Coderre told RDS on Monday. Coderre was quick to note that this is not the first time hes gone public over the Habs. "When I was [a Cabinet minister] myself I was calling open lines about the game of the day," Coderre said, referring to his run as Federal Immigration Minister in 2002 and 2003. The 50-year-old Coderre was elected mayor in the Citys municipal election on Nov. 3. His defence follows a days worth of commentary from Canadiens players and head coach Michel Therrien.dddddddddddd "I really believe this is inappropriate from our mayor," Therrien told reporters earlier Monday, weighing his words carefully. Habs forward Max Pacioretty, meanwhile, was much more candid with his criticism. "What, do you think hes gonna coach our team tomorrow? Thats embarrassing," Pacioretty said Monday. "To bring down a player -- such a great person, such a great player, such a hard worker ... Daveys a true competitor and hes a great player and a great teammate, and thats just so uncalled for... Its only going to make matters worse." Coderre went out of his way to diffuse any notion that the tweet was a personal attack. "I like David, I think hes got great potential," Coderre told RDS. "The rest is a non-issue." However, he would stop short of guaranteeing that he would refrain from comment in the future. "I am what I am," Coderre said. "Im taking notes." "There are some people who will be very, very pleased with some of my comments and the others will say no, but for me its a non-issue. It [was] a moment of big emotion, because I wanted to see my team win, end of story." ' ' '