NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees have been trying to figure out why Michael Pineda has been so imperfect in his career.

His ability is so great, he was an All-Star as a rookie in 2011. His potential has been so awesome that none other than CC Sabathia predicted a Cy Young Award for him this season, despite Pineda's 6-12 record and 4.82 ERA last year. Pineda has been a frustrating pin-striped riddle for the Yankees.

But there was Pineda in the middle of the Yankees world on Monday, the center of attention on a glorious 76-degree day for the home opener, and suddenly Pineda was perfect.

He sent the Tampa Bay Rays down 1-2-3 in the first. And then in the second, third and fourth.

At that point, Pineda had his first real thought that he was pitching a perfect game.

Manager Joe Girardi saw Pineda's slider darting all over the place, which mixed with his fastball and changeup to form a devastating trio.

"I thought he had a shot," Girardi said.

Pineda added a 1-2-3 fifth. And then a 1-2-3 sixth. It was 18 up and 18 down for the Rays.

History appeared to be on Pineda's side, especially considering there have been only 23 perfect games in baseball history and the Rays have been on the receiving end of three of them.

"You are thinking this is going to be another special day here at the stadium," Girardi said.

Pineda's teammates stopped talking to him between innings, the normal superstitious ritual meant to not mess up the man on the mound. Pineda looked as if maybe he couldn't be thrown off.

"He had control of his emotions," said Austin Romine, the Yankees catcher Monday and for the foreseeable future since Gary Sanchez is out for at least another four weeks. "He had control of his pitches. At no point in time did he lose that control."

The Yankees really haven't figured out why Pineda, with such a high strikeout-to-inning ratio, struggles so much. It is nothing physical, so maybe it is emotional. They have sort of, kind of hypothesized that Pineda loses concentration. But mostly, their answers have been akin to throwing their arms in the air.

But there was Pineda, perfect in the seventh inning. He retired the first two batters before Evan Longoria stepped to the plate.

Just last week in Tampa, the Rays smacked the imperfect Pineda around for four earned runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. Still, Pineda struck out Longoria twice during the misery. On Monday, Pineda struck him out two more times. Four at-bats and four strikeouts. All swinging.

Longoria, though, hasn't had the career he's had by being dumb. He noticed that Pineda was getting ahead on almost every hitter, so he went up with two outs in the seventh looking to swing early in the count.

The slider had been dominant for Pineda all day. In fact, nine of his 11 strikeouts came on the biting pitch, including the two times he had fooled Longoria to end his previous at-bats.

Here in the seventh, Pineda threw a slider that caught too much of the plate. Longoria punished it, pulling it just inside the line in left for a clean double. The chance at history was over.

Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild would dart out of the dugout, moving as quickly as his 63-year-old body would allow. From Girardi to Romine to Rothschild, they all wanted to make sure that Pineda didn't unravel. They have seen that happen before.

Instead, Pineda struck out Brad Miller to end the inning. In the eighth, he allowed a solo homer to Logan Morrison, and Girardi pulled him with two outs. The announced sellout crowd of 46,955 stood and gave Pineda a loud ovation. He slowly walked off, soaking it in.

"It was a good moment," Pineda said.

The Yankees broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the eighth and won 8-1.

It is hard to tell whether this outing will mean anything for the rest of the season. There have been dominant Pineda performances before, but they have been followed by mediocrity.

He started 20 of the 25 batters he faced with strikes. That 80 percent clip was 15 percent better than his career 65 percent first-strike average. Pineda's 11 strikeouts mark the fifth time he has had 10 or more in the last three seasons. The rest of the Yankees starters have three total over that span.

"With the stuff he has, he has the ability to dominate every time he goes out," Romine said.

In the spring, Pineda said his three top moments were his debut, his one perfect inning in the 2011 All-Star Game, and his 16-strikeout game vs. the Orioles in 2015.

“I will never forget those,” Pineda said.

Pineda hasn't yet ranked where Monday stands. He wasn't perfect, but it surely was an unforgettable day for him.