Can Yanks’ Pineda recover vs. Red Sox?
Rick Porcello has done a remarkable job of resuscitating his MLB career. For his next trick, Boston’s righty will try to pin down the arch-enemy.
The 27-year-old veteran confronts those hated Bronx Bombers tonight, with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch at Yankee Stadium. Oddsmakers at online sports book BetDSI still find themselves partial to the home team, listing Joe Girardi’s crew as a 1.5-run favorite in the series opener. The over/under run figure sits at seven.
Not that long ago, Porcello had essentially been left for dead. The revival tour’s alive and well now, however, as evidenced by his 5-0 record. Porcello’s also working on a 13 1/3-inning scoreless streak after yielding just five hits and striking out seven on Saturday.
Frankly, the Yankees (9-17) simply may not have an answer for the New Jersey native, who’s gone 5-2 with a 2.44 ERA in the past nine meetings with them. New York certainly couldn’t get moving last night, generating a mere four base knocks in a 1-0 loss at Baltimore. It marked the seventh defeat in eight contests for Girardi’s club.
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Michael Pineda (1-3, 6.33) hopes to begin picking up the pieces later. The once-prized prospect dropped his third consecutive decision one week ago, continuing a season-long battle with command. Boston (17-11) isn’t the ideal opponent against which to iron out flaws, though, and Pineda should learn as much in a short while.
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