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| (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) |
If you're the Yankees, you have to hope that
Michael Pineda is just a naive kid. If
not, he's one of the dumbest players in MLB history. After getting exposed for blatant pine tar use on his hands in his last start against the Red Sox, Pineda decided to tempt fate and slather the junk on his
neck this time.
John Farrell did not play
Mr. Nice Guy a second time—asking the home plate umpire to check for
goopage. A few moments later, Pineda was history—ejected for using a foreign substance. Unfortunately this buffoonery overshadowed a brilliant effort by
John Lackey—who went eight innings giving up just one earned run while striking out 11 in
the 5-1 Boston win. The offense was keyed by
Mike Napoli's three hits and a tone-setting triple to lead off the game by
Grady Sizemore.
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 5 with an RBI as well. Lackey became only the fourth Red Sox pitcher in 100 years to strike out
at least ten Yankees while walking none. The other three? Only
Pedro Martinez,
Luis Tiant and
Jim Lonborg.
