NEW YORK -- Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell said it wasn't brought to his attention until the fourth inning Thursday night that Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda had what appeared to be pine tar on the palm of his right hand.

When Pineda -- who after the game said the substance was dirt -- came out for the fifth inning, Farrell said it appeared the pitcher's hand had been wiped clean, so the manager never brought it to the attention of the umpiring crew.

"No one said a word," crew chief Brian O'Nora said. "The Red Sox didn't bring it to our attention, so there's nothing we can do about it."

Added Farrell: "Again, a foreign substance is illegal, but by the time we became aware of it, it was gone."

Pineda led the Yankees to a 4-1 win against the Red Sox, allowing four hits and striking out seven in six innings. Afterward, he was told that some opined that it was pine tar on his hand.

"I don't use pine tar," he said. "It's dirt. I'm sweating on my hand too much in between innings."

Even if Pineda did have pine tar on his hand, a number of Red Sox players considered it a nonissue. That included losing pitcher Clay Buchholz, who faced similar accusations last May in Toronto, when Blue Jays broadcasters including former pitcher Jack Morris said he had what appeared to be rosin sprinkled on sunscreen on his arm.

"No, especially on cold, windy nights, it's tough to get a grip on the baseball," Buchholz said. "I had that instance last year in Toronto, people said I had stuff all over my body you can use -- rosin, water, the whole sunscreen stuff, whatever. I'd rather have a grip on the baseball and semi-know where it's going [than] have no grip and get somebody hurt.