Apr 22, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) throws the ball against the Boston Red Sox in the sixth inning at Fenway Park. David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
BOSTON — Boston fans got their first look at Masahiro Tanaka on Tuesday night — and the Japanese import continued his rookie-season dominance with another strong outing.
On the night center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury made a triumphant return to Boston, Tanaka turned in 7 1/3 strong innings in a 9-3 rout of the Red Sox.
Tanaka, 24-0 in Japan last year, is 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA in his first four major league starts. He has pitched 29 1/3 innings, striking out 35 and walked only two — making the Yankees’ huge investment in him ($155 million plus the $20 million posting fee) seem like an early bargain. He gave up long back-to-back homers to David Ortiz and Mike Napoli in the fourth inning but did so with a 4-0 lead and then gave up nothing the rest of his outing.
“He has a great presence on the mound,” said shortstop Derek Jeter, who had a pair of RBI singles as the Yankees beat up on nemesis Jon Lester. “It doesn’t seem liked he’s fazed by too much. He has a lot of confidence in his ability — on top of having a lot of ability. He’s fun to play behind. He’s been a lot of fun to watch.”
As far as the control, manager Joe Girardi said, “We knew his command was good but it’s been really, really good. He didn’t walk people in spring training – he’s got a real good idea of what he’s doing.”
The 35 strikeouts is a record for a Yankees pitcher through his first four starts and are tied for third most in baseball over the last 100 years.
