HONORS AND AWARDS

Stage Listings: Aug. 29 to Sept. 4, 2014

First Posted: 8/3/2014 MOOSIC &#8212; The radar gun showed New York Yankees rehabbing right-handed pitcher Michael Pineda hit 94 miles per hour with his fastball during a minor league start for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
But that&#8217;s not the number that grabbed his attention.
Rather, it was the 58 pitches Pineda threw during 3 1/3 scoreless innings Saturday that had Pineda pumped and put the RailRiders on the road to a 3-1 victory over Syracuse.
&#8220;I felt pretty good today,&#8221; Pineda said.
That&#8217;s good news for the parent Yankees, who could certainly use some for that starting rotation.
Their staff is already missing C.C. Sabathia and Ivan Nova for the season, and may not get Masahiro Tanaka back before the year ends.
&#8220;I&#8217;m working hard, working to go back and help my team make the playoffs,&#8221; Pineda said. &#8220;I&#8217;m ready to go, I&#8217;m ready for anything.&#8221;
He&#8217;ll have to wait a bit.
Pineda, who was limited to 65 pitches Sunday, is slated to make one more start when his pitch count will extend to 85 pitches - probably Friday or Saturday for the RailRiders when they return home later this week.
He had little trouble making 58 pitches for the RailRiders while holding Syracuse scoreless, before tossing seven more pitches in the bullpen to wrap up his 65-pitch day.
&#8220;I had good power in the last inning,&#8221; Pineda said. &#8220;I know I had the pitch count today. It was fine, I threw a couple more pitches in bullpen. You build up. This is normal.&#8221;
There&#8217;s been nothing ordinary about Pineda&#8217;s season.
He got off to a sparkling start for the Yankees, going 2-2 with a minuscule 1.83 ERA in four starts. But he was suspended for 10 games following his last start for them on April 23, after being caught with pine tar on his person for the second time within a couple of weeks.
Right after that, the 25-year-old Dominican Republic resident went on the disabled list with shoulder soreness, officially termed a strained teres major muscle, and hasn&#8217;t pitched in a big league game since that April 23 start against Boston.
Pineda worked a simulated start in Tampa on Tuesday, then joined the RailRiders on Sunday for his first game action in more than three months.
&#8220;I feel my shoulder&#8217;s really strong,&#8221; Pineda said. &#8220;I feel good. I&#8217;m not trying for velocity. I&#8217;m looking for good control and determine how I feel. I feel good.&#8221;
The hard-throwing righthander looked pretty good, too, after overcoming a shaky start.
He walked Will Rhymes and surrendered a single to Steven Souza Jr. with one out in the first inning, but came back to strike out Syracuse cleanup man Tyler Moore and former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (as they were known then) prospect Brandon Laird to finish the first.
&#8220;I threw a lot of pitches in the first inning,&#8221; Pineda said. &#8220;I&#8217;m making my good pitches but they got a lot of foul balls.&#8221;
Syracuse didn&#8217;t get much more, though.
Pineda surrendered doubles to Jeff Howell in the second inning and to Moore in the fourth, but worked around the danger. He ended the second with an inning-ending popup, and departed with one out and a man on third base after getting Laird on a soft chopper back to the mound.
Tyler Webb came on to strand Moore at third base by recording the inning&#8217;s final two outs, then Zach Nuding and Branden Pinder finished up the RailRiders victory.
Some big hits produced it for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which won for the fourth straight time and 11th in its past 15 to close within 6 1/2 games of first-place Syracuse in the International League North Division.
Jose Pirela punched an RBI double to score Antoan Richardson with the game&#8217;s first run in the fifth inning. Then Kyle Roller provided the knockout punch, blasting a two-run homer over the center field fence in the sixth inning. That blow came right after Adonis Garcia ran his hitting streak to 16 straight games with a single to right field, his only hit of the game.
But the big hit of the day was Pineda, who left the team following his minor league outing and headed back to visit the Yankees.
&#8220;I&#8217;ll go back to New York for more work today,&#8221; Pineda said.
He intends to be working there regularly again by next week.
&#8220;But I don&#8217;t really have control of the situation,&#8221; Pineda said. &#8220;When it&#8217;s ready, (it&#8217;ll be) every five days. No pressure. I feel so bad because all the starters are getting hurt. It&#8217;s a little hard for the team. I felt happy today pitching a good game.&#8221;
SYRACUSE`AB`R`H`RBI`2B`3B`HR
Johnson ss`5`0`0`0`0`0`0
Rhymes 2b`3`0`1`0`0`0`0
Souza rf`1`0`1`0`0`0`0
Perez rf`3`0`0`0`0`0`0
Moore lf`3`0`1`0`1`0`0
Laird 3b`4`0`0`0`0`0`0
Solano c`4`0`2`0`1`0`0
Dobbs 1b`4`0`0`0`0`0`0
Howell dh`3`0`1`0`1`0`0
Burriss ph`1`0`0`0`0`0`0
Kobernus cf`3`1`1`0`0`0`0
Totals`34`1`7`0`3`0`0
RAILRIDERS`AB`R`H`RBI`2B`3B`HR
Pirela dh`4`0`1`1`1`0`0
Refsnyder 2b`4`0`1`0`0`0`0
Almonte lf`4`0`1`0`0`0`0
Garcia rf`4`1`1`0`0`0`0
Roller 1b`4`1`2`2`0`0`1
Wheeler ss`3`0`0`0`0`0`0
Romine c`3`0`0`0`0`0`0
Segedin 3b`3`0`1`0`0`0`0
Richardson cf`3`1`1`0`0`0`0
Totals`32`3`8`3`1`0`1
Syracuse`000`000`010` - 1
RailRiders`000`012`00x` - 3
SYRACUSE`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Laffey, L (11-4)`6`8`3`3`0`2
Barrett`1`0`0`0`0`0
Grace`1`0`0`0`0`1
RAILRIDERS`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Pineda`3.1`3`0`0`1`4
Webb`0.2`0`0`0`0`1
Nuding, W (3-4)`4.2`4`1`1`2`2
Pinder, S (1)`0.1`0`0`0`0`1

Pineda closer to wearing pinstripes again