Pineda offers another puzzling start for Yanks

KANSAS CITY — The tantalizing talent within Michael Pineda’s right arm continues to hold the Yankees’ interest, and as they try to mount a postseason push, they have to be wondering if he can finally put it all together over the last four weeks of the regular season.

Pineda offered up another mixed bag on Monday night, stumbling in the first inning before retiring the next 15 hitters, striking out eight without a walk. The end result saw Pineda take his career-high 11th loss as the Yankees dropped an 8-5 decision to the Royals, with New York remaining 3 1/2 games behind Baltimore for an American League Wild Card spot.

Sitting in the visitors’ dugout a couple of hours before first pitch, manager Joe Girardi said that it has been a challenge to make sense of Pineda’s hot-and-cold performances.

“When he makes mistakes, they’re hit, is probably the best way to say it,” Girardi said. “We scratch our head sometimes. He’ll go 5 2/3, strike out 11 guys and give up five runs. We scratch our head, but it just seems like when he makes mistakes, guys aren’t missing it.”

Pineda’s splits have been most pronounced in the first inning, where he has surrendered 22 runs and …

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