Yankees Michael Pineda appears to have used pine tar against Red Sox

Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda dominated the Red Sox last night and it looked like he could have been using some pine tar to help shut them down. Or at least improve his grip on the baseball. For the second straight night, the Red Sox were limited to just four hits. This time, however, one of them wasn't a three-run homer by David Ortiz.

A punchless offense managed just one run, as the Red Sox dropped their first meeting of the season with the New York Yankees, 4-1.

New York starter Michael Pineda allowed one run over six-plus innings. Pineda appeared to be pitching with an excessive amount of pine tar on his right hand, though the Red Sox apparently never lodged a complaint with the umpiring crew.

Clay Buchholz, coming off a horrid first start last Saturday at Fenway, pitched far better, allowing two earned runs over six innings. But thanks to some sloppiness behind him, he was also reached for two unearned runs.

Shutout over the first six innings, the Sox started to stir in the seventh when Daniel Nava, who had struck out in each of first two at-bats and was just 4-for-34 at the time, lined a homer to right, his first of the season.

When Xander Bogaerts followed with a single, that was it for Pineda. But lefty Cesar Cabral struck out both A.J. Pierzynski and Jackie Bradley Jr. and David Phelps finished the inning by retiring pinch-hitter Ryan Roberts on a groundout to short.

New York doubled its lead in the fifth on a solo homer from Dean Anna -- the first of his career -- and a single to left by Jacoby Ellsbury, which scored Derek Jeter (double) from second.

The Yankees took advantage of an error by third baseman Jonathan Herrera in the bottom of the fourth to take a 2-0 lead.

Leading off, Ellsbury sliced a slow roller that Herrera couldn't field cleanly, opening the way for the inning. Back-to-back singles from Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann and a double play from Alfonso Soriano produced the two runs, both unearned.

The Red Sox were held hitless by Pineda through the first four innings, with their first hit coming from Xander Bogaerts, who singled to open the fifth.