Pineda permitted just a leadoff single to Ian Kinsler, who was erased on a fielder's choice. The 28-year-old right-hander then proceeded to whiff Miguel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez, Justin Upton, Alex Avila and Omar Infante in succession.
Prior to the start, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that he would be looking for good location and quality of strikes from Pineda, who set career highs in innings (175 2/3), starts (32) and strikeouts (207) last year, but also losses (12) and home runs allowed (27).
His resulting 6-12 record and 4.