Michael Pineda suspended 10 games for pine tar incident

BOSTON -- New York Yankees starter Miguel Pineda was suspended for 10 games Thursday by Major League Baseball for using pine-tar while pitching Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox.

Pineda has the right to appeal the suspension, but since he admitted to using pine-tar after the game Wednesday, it appears unlikely.

"I apologize to my teammates, and to everybody,'' Pineda said Wednesday night. I'll learn from this mistake. It won't happen again.''

Pineda, 2-2, 1.83 ERA, likely will miss just one start since the Yankees have an off-day in the next 10 days. Yet, the reality is he actually will miss two starts since he pitched only 1 1/3 innings Wednesday when home-plate umpire Gerry Davis ejected him.

He's eligible to return May 5 against the Los Angeles Angels.

"I'm embarrassed that we had an organizational breakdown that allowed this to happen," Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Wednesday night. This is a terrible situation.

"Obviously, we'll deal with the ramifications for that.''

Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Cashman said there will be no repercussions or hard feelings towards the Red Sox for asking Davis and the umpiring crew to check on Pineda. Considering Pineda's blatant use of the pine tar, Cashman said, he doesn't blame Farrell for summoning the umpires. It's the Yankees' problem, they say, not the Red Sox.

"He used poor judgment tonight,'' Girardi said. "He'll admit to that. But, you can look at everybody in that room, we have not always made the best decisions in our life. You learn from them. … He feels like he let his teammates down.''