New York @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 4, 2014 ) NY Yankees 7, Toronto 3

Michael Pineda is ready to make his long-awaited Yankees debut when New York visits the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday in the second contest of a three-game series. The Seattle Mariners traded Pineda to New York on Jan. 13, 2012, but he was placed on disabled list in spring training with tendinitis in his right shoulder and suffered a torn labrum during rehab. “I’m very excited,” Pineda told reporters in Spanish. “I’m pitching in the major leagues again with a new team, with the Yankees.”

Toronto counters with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who was roughed up in the Blue Jays' 9-2 loss at Tampa Bay in Monday's season opener. Pineda's first game with New York comes one day after Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven strong innings in his much-anticipated Yankees debut as New York spoiled Toronto's home opener with a 7-3 victory. It came with a price, though, as first baseman Mark Teixeira left in the second inning with what the Yankees called a right hamstring strain.

TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, YES (New York), SNET, TVA (Toronto)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Michael Pineda (2011: 9-10, 3.74 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH R.A. Dickey (0-1, 10.80)

Pineda took the American League by storm in 2011 - his rookie season - by going 4-1 with a 2.01 ERA in April and was 8-6 with a 3.30 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 113 innings when he replaced Justin Verlander on the AL All-Star team. However, the 25-year-old Dominican Republic native didn't win over his final seven outings. Pineda made 10 minor-league starts over three levels in 2013 after returning in July, going 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA while striking out 41 in 40 2/3 innings.

Dickey, the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner, struggled with decreased velocity on his knuckleball Monday by tying a career high with six walks while yielding six runs and five hits in five innings. The 39-year-old Nashville, Tenn., native, who was 14-13 with a 4.21 ERA after a 20-6, 2.73 campaign with the New York Mets, is 5-3 with a 2.88 ERA in 14 appearances (eight starts) against the Yankees. Alfonso Soriano (5-for-15, two home runs, six RBIs) has given Dickey trouble.

WALK-OFFS

1. Yankees rookie IF Yangervis Solarte is 5-for-10 with three doubles and four RBIs in his first three games after driving in three with a pair of two-base hits Friday.

2. New York rookie Dean Anna, who played shortstop Friday while Derek Jeter took the night off, recorded his first major-league hit - a single in the ninth inning.

3. Toronto 1B Edwin Encarnacion went 2-for-4 with a double Friday after going 1-for-16 in his first four games.

PREDICTION: Blue Jays 3, Yankees 2