Recap: Masahiro Tanaka wild, Angels wilder in loss

With a line like Masahiro Tanaka had, it’s hard to believe he was anything but on top of his game.

Tanaka went 6.1 innings and gave up only two runs on five hits. He struck out 11, giving him 46 through his first five games, good enough for third most strikeouts through five games all time. That number is also good for the second most strikeouts by any Yankee pitcher in the first month of a season since 1914.

But he walked four. Four walks doesn’t sound like a terribly painful number; it’s not good, but it’s not bad. It’s worse, though, when you consider that Tanaka walked only two over his first four starts combined. What redeemed Tanaka and still earned him a quality start was how he pitched around the walks. Between striking out hitters and getting the ones he had walked out on double play grounders, Tanaka showed he had the toughness required of his position as the future of the Yankees’ rotation. The Angels’ offense came on a (rare) David Freese home run and a ground out. For the rest of the game, the Angels went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

For all of that, though, Tanaka earned a no decision, as  the Yankees finally mustered up just enough offense to offset the Japanese phenom had allowed. Ironically enough, New York’s two runs came on an RBI ground out and a Mark Teixeira home run. The decisive run came via a wild pitch by Angels’ reliever Nick Maronde with Jacoby Ellsbury at third. From there, it was a relatively painless ninth inning from David Robertson to seal the win.

Tanaka probably will lose a game at some point, but for now, his consecutive games pitched without a loss streak still dates back to 2012. He already looks like he’s worth the sizable investment put forth by the Yankees.