ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A split-finger fastball strikeout of Allan Dykstra in the second inning seemingly sent a message to the Rays hitters: Masahiro Tanaka was going to use his signature pitch with two strikes.
That message couldn’t have been interpreted more wrongly by the Rays because more often than not when Tanaka got to two strikes Saturday night he got strikeouts with the fastball or slider.
“You read hitters and read situations,’’ catcher Brian McCann said of using something else besides the splitter for strikeouts. “The hitter tells you where to go next.’’
With Tanaka providing seven shutout innings and Chris Young’s grand slam highlighting a seven-run seventh inning the Yankees punished the Rays, 9-0, in front of an announced crowd of 20,824 at Tropicana Field.
“I like all my pitches but I liked my fastball,’’ Tanaka said of the heater that reached 94-mph hour several times, an indication that the right arm is getting stronger and lessening concerns about the small tear of the ulnar collateral ligament of a year ago.
Considering his first two starts were subpar, Tanaka allowing two hits and striking out eight was a significant improvement.
“He was better,’’ pitching coach Larry Rothschild said of Tanaka, who improved to 2-1 “The command of the fastball was better and the ball was on a downhill plane. It was a real good step in the right direction.’’
Through five innings it didn’t look like it would end lopsided since Jake Odorizzi and Tanaka matched zeroes. But a rare triple by Brian McCann (fourth of his career) off the top of the right-field fence produced a 2-0 lead in the sixth.
The Rays’ Brandon Guyer opened the sixth with a double to left but Tanaka fanned Rene Rivera with a 92-mph fastball on a 0-2 count, whiffed David DeJesus on an 85-mile slider at 1-2 and ended it by inducing Steven Souza, Jr. to hit the first pitch hard on the ground to third baseman Chase Headley.
“Our offense scored the runs and I wanted to shut the opponent down,’’ Tanaka said. “I told myself not to give in.’’
After the long top of the seventh, manager Joe Girardi thought about removing Tanaka but with 71 pitches and 30 games in 31 days likely to put a strain on the bullpen, Girard opted to give Tanaka one more inning. His regular turn is Thursday in Detroit but Girardi said he hasn’t decided to pitch the ace or give him an extra day of rest.
Included in the long seventh was Young’s grand slam off veteran reliever Grant Balfour who was designated for assignment following the game.
“The key were the walks,’’ Young said of actually one walk and one hit batter. “Sooner or later they are going to catch up to you. Sooner or later somebody will come through.’’
That was Young whose third career grand slam upped the lead from 5-0 to 9-0 and sealed the Yankees’ second straight victory and improved the record to 5-6.
“He keeps you off balance, you never know what he is going to throw,’’ said Young of Tanaka. Young was in right field because Carlos Beltran had a bad cold. “He will throw anything in any count and that makes him very tough.’’
