The Yankees' shiny new toy has looked good during his first two outings, but Masahiro Tanaka wasn't enough to beat the Orioles by himself Wednesday.
Despite a strong seven innings from the right-hander, the Yankees lost to Baltimore, 5-4, thanks to a missed opportunity in the bottom of the eighth and an ineffective performance from temporary closer Shawn Kelley in the ninth.
Kelley, filling in for the injured David Robertson, allowed four straight hits to start the ninth, including a single to Nick Markakis that knocked in the winning run to spoil Tanaka's Bronx debut at a chilly Stadium.
Alfonso Soriano tried to get the Yankees back into it by starting the ninth with a double to right off Tommy Hunter. Kelly Johnson followed with a single when Chris Davis couldn't handle his grounder down the first base line. Then, Brian Roberts drove in Soriano with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-4.
However, Yangervis Solarte grounded into a double play to end the game.
Tanaka, after another shaky beginning, was terrific as his outing went on and, after a towering three-run homer by Jonathan Schoop in the second that stayed just inside the left field foul pole, Tanaka didn't allow another run and wound up striking out 10.
But his performance took a backseat to Kelley's ninth-inning failure.
The hard-throwing righty surrendered a double to Ryan Flaherty to start the inning and while Schoop failed to bunt Flaherty to third, he was able to single to right-center, putting runners on the corners. Markakis then drove in Flaherty with a hit of his own.
Tanaka gives a pound to second baseman Brian Roberts after the infielder made a play to end the sixth.Photo: AP
The Yankees wasted a golden opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth.
Brett Gardner started things off by ripping a leadoff double to right. Derek Jeter bunted Gardner to third, bringing up Jacoby Ellsbury to face lefty Brian Matusz. Ellsbury popped out to third and after the sizzling Carlos Beltran was walked intentionally, Brian McCann continued his early-season struggles by flying out to deep center.
Tanaka had put the Yankees in decent position to win and saved his best for last, retiring the final seven batters he faced — three by strikeout.
The bullpen got off to a solid start, as Matt Thornton came in to start the eighth and after going 3-0 to Davis, struck out the lefty-hitting slugger. Thornton was replaced by Adam Warren, who allowed a single and a walk before getting Nelson Cruz and Steve Lombardozzi to keep the game tied at 3-3.
Though Tanaka showed flashes of why the Yankees forked over $175 million to get him, there's still work to be done. The right-hander has to figure out how to navigate the first two innings of games, but he knows how to settle down as his outings progress. In each of his first two games, he has given up three runs by the end of the second inning.
The Orioles did hit some rockets off Tanaka even after he righted himself, but he was frequently able to pitch out of trouble.
It began in the third, when he struck out Cruz with runners on first and second to end the inning. That came after Tanaka fell behind Cruz, 2-0 and McCann took a quick trip to the mound.
The Yankees mounted a comeback in the bottom of the second. Beltran led off with his first home run in pinstripes and after Miguel Gonzalez retired McCann and Soriano, Johnson made it a 3-2 game with another homer.
After Tanaka righted himself, the Yankees tied the game in the fourth, again sparked by Beltran. He started the bottom of the inning with a double to right and moved to third on McCann's fly out to right. Soriano drove Beltran in with a sharp groundout to short.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Yanks’ bullpen spoils Tanaka’s Stadium debut
Dengan url
http://bahayaprostat.blogspot.com/2014/04/yanksa-bullpen-spoils-tanakaas-stadium.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Yanks’ bullpen spoils Tanaka’s Stadium debut
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Yanks’ bullpen spoils Tanaka’s Stadium debut
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar