Puzzling Pineda stumbles again in finish to puzzling season

NEW YORK (AP) - Michael Pineda pitched 3 2/3 hitless innings, gave up three straight hits, then allowed Adam Jones' home run leading off the fourth,

Three batters later, Mark Trumbo hit his major league-leading 47th homer to give Baltimore a four-run lead and end Pineda's season. As Trumbo circled the bases, Pineda took off his cap and scratched his head - a phrase New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi had used a few hours earlier in describing the 27-year-old right-hander's season.

"It's mind-boggling," Girardi said before Friday night's 8-1 loss. "It just doesn't make sense."

Pineda (6-12), whose fastball averages 96 mph, allowed five runs, six hits, two homers and three walks in 4 1/3 innings, finishing with a 4.82 ERA.

"This has been a tough season for me," he said.

He struck out a team-high 207 and leads in the AL with 10.6 per nine innings, but his ERA is 68th among 76 qualifying pitchers in the major leagues.

"When he hits his spots, he's one of the best pitchers in baseball," Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira said. "Unfortunately, sometimes he doesn't, and a night like tonight happens."

Trumbo, Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones all went deep in a six-run fifth inning for the Orioles, who opened a one-game lead over Toronto and remained 1 1/2 games in front of Detroit and two ahead of Seattle for the AL's two wild cards. Schoop tied his career high with five RBIs.

Eliminated on Thursday, New York rested two regulars and pulled four others by the sixth. Yovani Gallardo (6-8) won for just the second time in nine starts since Aug. 5, allowing two hits, three walks and Teixeira's sacrifice fly in six innings.

There were maybe 1,000 people in the seats among the announced crowd of 33,955 when the game began, and there was standing water on the warning track. Only about 200 stayed in the seats for the final out.

Yankees second baseman Ronald Torreyes, center fielder Eric Young Jr. and first baseman Tyler Austin slipped to the turf while attempting to field balls. Third baseman Chase Headley splashed into a puddle in front of Baltimore's dugout chasing a foul popup and Torreyes, having moved to shortstop, snagged Chris Davis' wind-blown seventh-inning pop about 10 feet from home plate.

"It was just ugly. There's no other way to put it," Teixeira said.

Jones' 29th homer landed in the left field second deck. Schoop doubled high off the right field wall and hit a three-run homer into the first deck in left, a drive off James Pazos.

"It's windy, it's misting, flyballs seemed to be an adventure to a certain point; there were some guys slipping on some plays," Girardi said. "I took all the guys out because I concerned."

ROCKIN'

Twisted Sister, led by Dee Snider, presented a signed guitar to Teixeira during a pregame ceremony. Teixeira, who is retiring Sunday, uses the band's "I Wanna Rock" as his walkup music.

"That was super cool," Teixeira said. "I told them that was one of the neatest gifts I've ever gotten in my life."

ROLLIN'

Jacoby Ellsbury reached on catcher's interference for the 12th time - the 39th among all big league batters this year. ... Matt Wieters' first-inning strikeout was the team-record 1,371st for Yankees pitchers.

FARM REPORT

Yankees: RHP James Kaprielian allowed an unearned run, struck out four, walked two and hit a batter over two innings in an instructional league game against Toronto, the first game for the 2015 first-round draft pick since April 21 with Class A Tampa. He was sidelined by an elbow flexor strain. Jorge Mateo started in center. He played shortstop and second for Tampa during the season.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: 2B Starlin Castro sat on the wet night because of his tender hamstring and LF Brett Gardner was kept out.

UP NEXT

LHP Wade Miley (9-13) is scheduled to start for Baltimore on Saturday, when rain again is forecast. RHP Luis Severino (3-8) is slated to start for New York in place of Masahiro Tanaka (14-4), who missed his previous turn with a right forearm strain. Tanaka finished with 31 starts and 199 2/3 innings, and Girardi said another outing didn't make sense with the Yankees out of playoff contention.

"It's the most starts he's had here. It's the most innings he's had. It's the third-most innings he's had in his career," Girardi said. "He's healthy."