Yankees 3, Diamondbacks 5: More of the same from Michael Pineda and the offense

At a certain point, it starts to feel like all these recaps are the same. The Yankees didn't get good starting pitching and they didn't get very good offense. Those things combined for another loss on the season on a night when there was ground to be made up in the AL East. Alas, not going to happen when the starter gives up five runs and you're facing Zack Greinke.

Michael Pineda was...less bad than last time out? He only gave up five runs in five innings this time! He struck out nine batters. Like Pineda does, he was extremely ineffective early on. He'd given up seven hits before recording an out in the third inning. The wheels hadn't totally fallen off by that point, but he was fooling no one. Everything seemed to be hung in the sweet spot of the zone. Diamondbacks announcers wondered whether it is possible to throw too many strikes, and I believe Pineda is proof that it is.

The Yankees actually got on the board first with solo home run by Starlin Castro deep into the Arizona outfield. Unfortunately, Greinke would go on to give the team basically nothing else to work with until the eighth inning. By that point, it was too late.

Joe Girardi, like anyone who has watched Pineda pitch this year, seemed to grow exasperated with his starter between innings. It has been documented that Pineda seems to let situations get away from him and he has a tendency to pout a bit when things go wrong. Not sure if that was the culprit of any of his struggles tonight, but Girardi seemed to be as frustrated as anyone.

Chasen Shreve and Kirby Yates pitched three near-perfect innings out of the bullpen. It doesn't help as much when the team has already been thrown into a hole without a rope by the time the third inning is over, but it's at least something to feel slightly less miserable about.

Offensively, the team was led by Castro's two hits. The team only recorded six in the game, so those two looked pretty good by comparison. Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran were responsible for driving in the team's other two runs.

Now the Yankees will try to escape the desert without being swept in tomorrow's series finale. Nathan Eovaldi will try to be the stopper as he faces off against Shelby Miller, who has a 6.94 ERA on the season. I'd like to believe that the Yankees will actually be able to do something against that, but it seems equally likely that they'll be shut out and make us all cry.