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 He thought little about it.
"I looked at the scoreboard," Pineda said after giving up one hit in
6 2/3 innings. "I'm not really thinking too much. I'm thinking
getting outs quick, that's what I want.
Instead, Pineda left the difficult decision-making to New York
Yankees manager Joe Girardi, whose call was made significantly
easier when the right-hander lost his no-hit bid on the first pitch
of the seventh during Wednesday night's 2-1 win over the Miami
Marlins.
"I was in a bad spot there," said Girardi, who lifted Pineda after
111 pitches during his 16-strikeout game on May 10 against the
Baltimore Orioles. "People question me pulling him out in the 16
strikeouts to go for the record. You can't let him go forever. I
guess at some point I had to consider pulling him."
Pineda made Girardi's decision less agonizing when Marlins left
fielder Christian Yelich sent his fastball into the Yankees bullpen
beyond the right-center field wall for his fourth home run of the
season. That ended Pineda's run at throwing the 12th no-hitter in
New York history and first since David Cone's perfect game against
the Montreal Expos on July 18, 1999.
Even if Yelich had not gotten a hit, Pineda was unlikely to pitch
much longer. Earlier this month, he had a start pushed back five
days to keep him fresh and the layoff did not help his effectiveness
in an 11-3 loss to Baltimore.
"He had some bite on his slider," New York catcher Brian McCann
said. "He could do whatever he wanted tonight."
Before allowing the home run, Pineda retired the first 11 hitters.
He issued a two-out walk to Yelich in the fourth and a one-out walk
to first baseman Justin Bour and then retired five more before
losing his no-hit bid.
Pineda struck out nine, getting six on his slider. It also marked
the third time that he pitched at least six innings and allowed one
hit.
"I definitely thought about big picture in what we have in this
guy," Girardi said. "We have a healthy Michael Pineda and we have to
keep him healthy.
"I don't think it's a situation where we let the guy throw 130, 140
pitches, not in this situation. It would be extremely difficult for
me and I would feel bad. Sometimes as a manager you have to protect
players from themselves."
After allowing the home run, Pineda threw five more pitches before
exiting to a standing ovation from the crowd of 43,048, having
thrown 62 of 100 pitches for strikes.
"Mikey was awesome tonight," said New York designated hitter Alex
Rodriguez, who had an RBI single and another single to move to
within three of 3,000 career hits.
Then the Yankees had to hold on, especially in the eighth and ninth.
Chasen Shreve got the final out of the seventh, but Justin Wilson
put two on in the eighth, forcing Dellin Betances into a save
attempt.
Betances appeared to allow the tying run when first baseman Garrett
Jones made a high throw to the plate as shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria
slid in and was ruled safe. Replays appeared to show that McCann's
tag was in time, and after a review of two minutes, 41 seconds, home
plate umpire Dale Scott's initial call was overturned.
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"In truthfulness, I thought I was safe," Hechavarria said through an
interpreter. "I slid outside of the plate. I thought my foot got in
there. After the replay, I was called out, but I really thought I
was safe."
In the ninth, Betances gave up a two-out single to center fielder
Marcell Ozuna and walked Bour but struck out catcher Jeff Mathis to
notch his fourth save.
Instead of getting no-hit for the fourth time in team history, the
Marlins lost for the second time in their last seven games.
"Nobody wants to get no hit," Miami manager Dan Jennings said.
"Yelly (Yelich) got a pitch he could drive."
Miami right-hander Jose Urena (1-3) allowed two runs and six hits in
six innings, working out of two bases-loaded jams in the fourth and
fifth.
The only pitchers to throw no-hitters against the Marlins were Ramon
Martinez for the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 14, 1995; Roy Halladay
for the Philadelphia Phillies on May 29, 2010, and Jordan Zimmermann
for the Washington Nationals on Sept. 28, 2014.
New York took a 1-0 lead with two outs in the first on Rodriguez's
RBI single. The Yankees made it 2-0 in the fifth on a run-scoring
base hit by right fielder Carlos Beltran.
NOTES: The Yankees have not announced their full rotation plans for
this weekend's series against the Detroit Tigers, but manager Joe
Girardi said RHP Masahiro Tanaka probably would start Sunday on five
days' rest. ... New York optioned RHP Jose Ramirez to Triple-A
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and recalled LHP Jose DePaula. ... INF Martin
Prado missed his third straight game with a sprained right shoulder
and will rejoin the Marlins this weekend in Cincinnati. ... Miami
OF/1B Mike Morse (sprained right ring finger) began a rehab
assignment with Double-A Jacksonville and was 0-for-5 with three
strikeouts. ... Miami RHP Jose Fernandez made his third rehab start
for Class A Jupiter and struck out 10 in 4 2/3 innings.
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