Seattle Mariners’ Michael Pineda contributes in 3-2 win over Kansas City Royals – MLB Update
The Seattle Mariners’ rookie pitcher Michael Pineda threw six shut-out innings as the club overpowered the Kansas City Royals 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Missouri on Sunday.
The right-hand Pineda got five strike-outs and allowed one run over three hits. His record is now 2-1 with a 2.33 earned run average for the first three Major League Baseball starts, which is the second best in the club after Felix Hernandez’s 2-1 with a
0.86 ERA.
The Seattle Mariners’ manager Ned Yost has enough to expect a come-back in the future as he has found a pitcher with the reliable talent to pair with top prospect Hernandez. Pineda, playing in his debut Major League baseball season this year, impressed Yost
with his fast 99mph pitches on Sunday night.
"The kid's got electric stuff," Yost said of Pineda. "We weren't chasing pitches outside the zone. The kid has a live arm. It was our first look at him. He has a good fastball and breaking ball and he threw strikes. He's in there throwing 95 with his fastball
and with a sharp breaking ball."
Pineda allowed a run in fifth inning when the Royals’ hitter Brayan Pena chipped a sacrifice fly to centre-field allowing Jeff Francoeur to score a leading run.
Jamey Wright also shined as he tossed two no-hit innings, made one strike-out and allowed two walks. He also seemed impressed with Pineda’s three starting outings in the MLB, in which Pineda allowed just 13 hits and made 16 strike-outs in 19 innings.
"Pineda's fastball is as good as I've ever seen," said Wright, a 13-year Major League veteran. "He throws strikes and attacks hitters with it. His breaking stuff is only to get better. When you are throwing 97-98 mph there is so much more you can get away
with. He is going to be good. Once his breaking stuff gets even better, he has a chance to be really special."
The Mariners’ short-stop Brendan Ryan hit a tie-breaking single in the seventh helping the club in splintering a four-game losing streak. He was speechless when asked about Pineda as he said, “I cannot say enough about this guy.” Ryan further said that he
had pinpointed this boy to be the Rookie of the Year even in spring training.
Pineda made some splendid outings, but as a whole, the American League’s Mariners' roaster was not happy. The Club has lost eleven of his last 13 games and has not scored more than four runs in any game.
This win, however, has provided some hope to the camp as they are going to take on the Detroit Tigers for a four-game series starting from Monday. Yost has scheduled his struggling pitcher Jason Vergas to face off with the Tigers’ Max Scherzer, who has won
his last two outings with a 4.76 ERA.
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