ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — You say one game isn’t enough of a sample to judge a pitcher and that is correct. Is 11 a big enough model?
Counting Wednesday night’s dreadful outing by Michael Pineda, that’s how many starts he has made since August without winning.
That is not a small sample, and three games into this season, this is a fair question: Can Pineda help the Yankees win?
He certainly didn’t lend a hand against the Rays at Tropicana Field in a 4-1 loss that was witnessed by a quaint gathering of 12,737.
In 3 ²/₃ innings, Pineda gave up four runs, eight hits, didn’t allow a walk and fanned six.
“It came down to him making some mistakes with his fastball, and the big one was to [Derek] Norris,’’ manager Joe Girardi said of the ninth-place hitter’s two-run, bullet single off second baseman Starlin Castro’s glove in the second inning when the hosts scored three runs to break a 1-1 tie. “There were two outs and it looked like he was going to get out of it without giving up a run.’’
Pineda struggled with two outs a year ago, and nothing changed Wednesday night.
“I missed location in that inning,’’ Pineda said. “I feel good though. It happened again with two outs. I thought I made good pitches, but they put the ball in play where nobody was.’’
The second loss in three games sent the Yankees to Baltimore for Thursday’s day of rest before Luis Severino, who as 0-8 with an 8.50 ERA in 11 starts last season, opens a three-game series against the Orioles at Camden Yards.
Pineda, who can become a free agent following the season, last won Aug. 5 against the Indians when he gave up four runs in six innings. Since then he has made 11 starts and gone 0-3 with a 4.33 ERA.
Girardi was asked if he spent time during the winter thinking about ways to fix Pineda so he could match results to the stuff CC Sabathia said in spring training could win a Cy Young.
“Offseason, in-season, midseason, every season,’’ Girardi said before the game of Pineda, who has a plus fastball that at times naturally cuts and a filthy slider. “It comes to mistakes and missed location. He’s probably left Larry scratching his head.’’
That would be pitching coach Larry Rothschild, who at this rate might rip the hair out of his scalp by the All-Star break and need new fingernails.
“Obviously the stuff is there. It comes down to consistency,’’ Girardi said of the 28-year-old Pineda, who was 6-12 with a 4.82 ERA in 32 starts a year ago.
The three-run ditch Pineda drove the Yankees into in the second inning was far too deep for a lineup that Alex Cobb and four relievers held to a run and eight hits. One of the hits was Jacoby Ellsbury’s homer in the second.
Cobb allowed a run and four hits in 5 ²/₃ innings.
The Yankees went hitless in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position, something Brett Gardner lamented.
“We had a couple of chances but we didn’t get anything done. [Cobb] gave me a good pitch to hit and I popped out to second base [in the fifth to strand two runners],’’ Gardner said. “That was one of the few where he gave you a good pitch to hit and I missed it. That would have put us back in the ballgame if I had done something with that. He was better tonight.’’
Gardner was talking about Cobb being better than the Yankees hitters because since Aug. 5 most every opposing pitcher has been better than Pineda.