Yankees 1, Rays 8: Michael Pineda dooms the Yankees early

Today was miserable and everything was terrible. Michael Pineda was bad, the offense only scored one run, and Alex Rodriguez left the game with an injury. Not much good came out of this game for the Yankees.

After allowing just two runs over six innings in his last two starts, Pineda was blown out of the water early on when he allowed five runs in the top of the first inning. He got two quick outs to start the game, making it look like it was destined to be a good day, but things unraveled from there. He allowed a double to Evan Longoria and then a two-run home run to Corey Dickerson. A single, double, and a Steven Souza Jr. home run made it 5-0 before the Yankees had a chance to bat.

Pineda was punished by the long ball this afternoon, surrendering four home runs overall. Even though it was clear he wasn't going to keep them in the game, Joe Girardi was forced to stick with his starter in order to give the bullpen a break. After the two home runs in the first, Steve Pearce homered in the third and Souza hit another dinger in the fifth, making that seven runs. He pitched a full five innings, allowing seven runs on 10 hits and a walk, but still managed to strike out nine batters. We might start calling this the Pineda Special now.

By the sixth inning, Pineda was yanked in favor of Kirby Yates, who allowed one hit and struck out four over two innings. Nick Goody entered to pitch the last two innings, allowing yet another home run from Logan Forsythe, but otherwise struck out three.

The Yankees offense was pretty quiet throughout the day, scoring their one run in the fourth inning. Brett Gardner reached on a hit by pitch and Alex Rodriguez drove him in with a double. The team was able to tease us a few times, but nothing came of it. Starlin Castro had two hits, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, and Dustin Ackley each had a hit of their own, and Chase Headley had a walk. A-Rod was removed from the game in the sixth inning after he tweaked his oblique muscle taking batting practice in the cages in between innings.

This disappointing day will now only lead to more questions because we don't know how serious A-Rod's injury is at the moment. If he has to go on the disabled list, who do they bring up? Is this when Nick Swisher gets brought up, or do they use Ben Gamel? We'll have to see what happens, but it certainly won't make this team any better.

The Yankees have had a poor home stand, losing two games to the Mariners, getting swept by the Athletics, and losing another game against the Rays. They face the Texas Rangers next with Cole Hamels looming over them. Fun times are ahead.