Masterpiece


Putting a couple of underwhelming early-season outings behind him, Masahiro Tanaka dominated the Red Sox Thursday night. The Yankees ace threw the second complete game shutout of his North American career, holding the Red Sox to three singles in a 3-0 Yankee victory. But don't let the final score fool you: he pitched with a 1-run lead most of the night; those insurance runs came on a 9th inning rally when Boston's Chris Sale wore down after passing the 100-pitch plateau. Tanaka never had to worry about reaching that perilous plateau. He threw just 97 pitches in game that would make commissioner Rob Manfred happy -- it ran just under two-and-a-half hours.
(This image of Tanaka comes from last August 13th at Yankee Stadium.)

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