Lustiges und Witziges! » pened once this year i

NEW YORK -- This much is clear: Michael Pineda had a dark substance smudged on his pitching hand during his first win for the New York Yankees. Pine tar or dirt? We might never know. Pineda took a two-hit shutout into the seventh inning, and Jacoby Ellsbury hit an RBI single off old roommate Clay Buchholz in his first game against the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees 4-1 victory Thursday night left a bit of a mystery: Were Pinedas pitches plain old nasty, or was something more sinister involved? "Its dirt," Pineda said. "Between the innings, Im sweating too much, my hand. Im putting dirt -- Im grasping the dirt. ... Im not using pine tar." Ellsbury drew all the pregame attention after switching sides in the rivalry during the off-season. But it was the dark brown, seemingly tacky substance on the lower palm of Pinedas right hand that became the focus. Close-up camera shots showed Pineda (1-1) pitching during the early innings with something on his hand, and there was speculation it was pine tar to help him get a better grip on a chilly night. The game was never stopped for an umpire to examine him, and it whatever it was, it was gone by the fifth. "I became aware of it in the fourth inning through the video that someone had seen," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "And then, when he came back out for the fifth inning, it looked, based on where it was told to me it was located, it looked like the palm of his right hand was clean." Buchholz and fellow Red Sox ace Jon Lester both attracted questions last year about substances they had on the mound, but nothing came of them. "The Red Sox didnt bring it to our attention, so theres nothing we can do about it," umpire crew chief Brian ONora said. "If they bring it to our attention, then youve got to do something." Yankees manager Joe Girardi essentially repeated the same answer five times during his postgame news conference. "I never saw it. Theres nothing really for me to talk about," he said. Making his first Yankee Stadium start 27 months after he was acquired from Seattle, Pineda appeared completely recovered from the shoulder surgery that sidelined him for two years. Throwing at up to 95 mph, he allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked two. Brian McCann ended an 0-for-14 slide with a run-scoring single that put the Yankees ahead during a two-run fourth that also included a run-scoring double-play grounder by Alfonso Soriano. Making just his third big league start after 554 games in the minor leagues, 27-year-old infielder Dean Anna homered as New York made it 4-0 in the fifth. Anna opened spring training wearing No. 93 after six minor league seasons with San Diego, which traded him to New York in November. Now wearing a more respectable No. 45, he was greeted after the homer by Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who gave him a high-five. Anna had received more than 100 emails and texts by the time the game ended, and he even got the ball back. "Words cant explain it. Honestly, they really cant. All the history with these two teams," Anna said. This was slightly different than the way he dreamed it would happen. "In Wrigley Field, actually," he said. "But Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox I think is pretty good, too." After spending nine years in the Red Sox organization and winning World Series titles in 2007 and last year, Ellsbury left for a $153 million, seven-year contract with the Yankees. And his first game put him at the plate against Buchholz (0-1), his roommate at Lowell of the New York-Penn League in their first summer of professional ball. On a 1-for-4 night, Ellsbury reached on third baseman Jonathan Herreras fielding error and scored the games first run in the fourth and singled sharply to left to drive in a run in the fifth. Daniel Nava led off the seventh with a home run into the second deck in right, and Xander Bogaerts single chased Pineda. With David Robertson on the disabled list and Shawn Kelley and Adam Warren unavailable after pitching Wednesday, the Yankees scrambled their bullpen. Cesar Cabral and David Phelps retired Bostons last nine batters -- striking out five -- and Phelps got seven outs for his first career save. "I just figured as long as I was keeping guys off base, they were going to let me go," Phelps said. "Any time you can get a first, as long as its a good first, is always exciting." NOTES: Jeter went 2 for 4 with a double, raising his average to .290. ... The Yankees employed an unusual shift with Grady Sizemore up: Jeter remained at shortstop and rookie Yangervis Solarte moved from third to the first-base side of second; Sizemore grounded out to Solarte in the third. ... CC Sabathia (1-1) is slated to face Lester (0-2) in Fridays second game of the four-game series. Ian Kennedy Jersey . Three pitches later, he was hugging Mike Napoli at home plate after his teammates winning home run. Napoli and Ortiz hit consecutive homers with one out in the 10th inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied past Minnesota 2-1 Wednesday, sending the Twins to their fifth straight loss. Brandon Moss Jersey . Zdeno Chara scored with 13 seconds left in regulation after David Krejci tied it late, lifting the Bruins to a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night in a game that saw Orpik taken from the ice on a stretcher. http://www.royalsteamproshop.com/Royals-...nn-Kids-Jersey/. - Pierre-Maxime Poudrier scored twice and added an assist, and Antoine Bibeau made 43 saves as the Val-dOr Foreur downed the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 6-3 on Sunday to force Game 7 in their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final series. Danny Duffy Jersey . Al Harrington, another former Knicks forward, scored 22 of his 24 points after halftime for the Nuggets, allowing them to withstand Anthonys attempt to rally the Knicks after his poor shooting had them behind until the final minutes of regulation. Anthony finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, missing 20 of 30 shots in the Knicks sixth straight loss. Kelvin Herrera Jersey . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The only thing worse than being mentioned as the best player without a major is not being mentioned at all. Sergio Garcia is back in the conversation. The 34-year-old Spaniard is No. 3 in the world, his highest ranking in five years. He arrived at Valhalla for the PGA Championship coming off a pair of runner-up finishes. He briefly challenged Rory McIlroy at the British Open and then lost a three-shot lead to McIlroy at Firestone. Fifteen years after his first close call at a major, Garcia looks as poised as ever. "Its been a good year," Garcia said. "Obviously, a lot of high finishes, some really good chances of winning tournaments. Unfortunately, its only happened once this year in Qatar, but Im excited about it. "Its another big week here in Valhalla. Were going to try to do more of the same and keep playing well and see if we can be there again on Sunday and have another good chance." Just his luck, there always seems to be one guy doing a little bit better. For years, that was Tiger Woods. Garcia was 19 when he nearly chased Woods down in the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah. He played with him in the final group of the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black and in the final group of the 2006 British Open at Royal Liverpool. Woods hasnt won a major in six years. And now Garcia has to contend with McIlroy. "I wouldnt say bad timing," said Garcia, with a smile. "I think playing well, its always great. And if somebody else is playing better than you, theres nothing you can do. ...The only thing I can do is try to play the best I can. If I manage to do that, I know that Ive shown that I can play really, really well. But if somebody else plays better, the only thhing I can do is congratulate him and move on.dddddddddddd" Thats what he did at Hoylake two weeks ago. He played in the group ahead of McIlroy at The Open, and ran up to hug him in the scoring trailer when McIlroy completed his two-shot victory. It wasnt always that way. Garcia struggled to lose as graciously as he won, such as the British Open at Carnoustie in 2007 when he lost in playoff to Padraig Harrington and blamed it on bad breaks, suggesting he was playing against "more than the field." He looks as happy as ever, in part because of the group around him and girlfriend Katharina Boehm, a German who played college golf in the United States. So which comes first? Does happiness lead to good golf or does good golf make him happy? "A bit of both," Garcia said. "Obviously, I feel like things around me are right where I want them to be, and that obviously puts me in a nicer situation when I go on to the golf course. And then ... dont get me wrong -- its not just good playing because of happiness. Its work and confidence and all those things. "Ive had some really nice things happen to me on the golf course and things that keep your round going. All those things kind of put together make up for the happiness and the good play." Garcia looked so much at ease that happiness might no longer depend on whether he can call himself a major champion. He believes he felt a greater sense of urgency to win a major when he was in his early 20s and contending for them more regularly. Now, not so much. "Like Ive always said, if I get to 45 and I havent won one, then Ill probably start worrying a little more," he said. "But I dont know. Hopefully, that wont happen." 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