Yankee rookie Masahiro Tanaka shines again in win over Blue Jays
By Mike Marteny
New York Yankee “rookie” righthander Masahiro Tanaka continued in his dominance of Major League Baseball again tonight. This time Tanaka’s victim was the Toronto Blue Jays.
More from MLB
- Braves get dose of bad news on Max Fried as ace nears return
- Shohei Ohtani trade rumors live tracker: Every update so far
- MLB Rumors: Yankees mistake, Cardinals trade package, Cubs choice
- Inside the Clubhouse: What I’m hearing ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline
- After frantic trade day, Kiké Hernandez grateful for second chance with Dodgers
Tanaka went six brilliant innings, giving up a run on five hits and two walks while striking out ten. This is his second consecutive double digit strikeout game, and his fifth of the season.
Tanaka picked up the win in the Yankees’ 3-1 victory. He now has a five start winning streak.
The 25-year-old Japanese import now boasts an impressive 11-1 record with a stellar 1.99 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. He has 113 strikeouts in 99.2 innings pitched while walking just 16 batters.
Tanaka is the odds-on favorite for AL Rookie of the Year (sorry Jose Abreu), and is looking like the favorite to start the All Star Game for the American League in Minneapolis in about a month.
Blue Jay rookie Marcus Stroman was the loser tonight, lasting only 3.2 innings. He gave up only two runs, but allowed four hits and three walks.
The Yankees got on the first got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when center fielder Brett Gardner hit a two run homer off of Stroman.
The Yankees other run was scored in the bottom of the fifth when Mark Teixeira singled in Derek Jeter off of Toronto reliever Aaron Loup.
The Blue Jays lone run was a leadoff home run by Jose Reyes to open the game.
Tanaka’s next start will come Sunday afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles at home where he will go for his sixth consecutive win.