A night after the Marlins looked lost against Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka gave them life.
The Yankees starter got beat up for a second straight start, this time in a 9-1 loss Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
Tanaka allowed seven runs (six earned) over five innings, scattering eight hits and two walks while striking out five. It came six days after the Red Sox got to him for six runs and seven hits in five innings.
“I just feel like I wasn’t able to control the game,” Tanaka said through an interpreter. “You get runners on, that happens. You’ve got to try to minimize the damage and I feel like I wasn’t able to do a good job of that.”
Giving up three singles and a walk to the first four batters he faced, Tanaka never quite got into a rhythm. With the help of a throwing error by Didi Gregorius, he spotted the Marlins a 3-0 lead before the Yankees took their first at-bat.
Tanaka didn’t get much help from his fielders, though he said that was no excuse. After Gregorius’ error in the first, Tyler Austin made another in the second that led to another run. Tanaka had just one clean inning, the third, when he retired the Marlins’ 3-4-5 batters in a row.
J.T. Realmuto’s three-run home run with two outs in the fifth put a final blemish on Tanaka’s outing before it was over.
“I’m very disappointed in myself,” Tanaka said. “After the first inning I felt like I settled down a bit. I felt like I was more efficient up to the fifth inning but giving up that home run, it’s very disappointing and frustrating.”
Tanaka, who chose not to opt out of his contract this past offseason, has now allowed six earned runs in consecutive starts for the second time in his career. He has also allowed at least one home run in each of his four starts this season (five overall) after giving up 35 in 30 starts last year.
“Sometimes he gets in a little bit of trouble with the fastball, when he gets a little predictable with it there,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Pitch selection for him is very important because when he makes a mistake with a fastball, that’s the one area where guys tend to slug that ball on him.”
