Masahiro Tanaka Out To Tame The Tigers In The Finale As New York Takes On Detroit
Masahiro Tanaka has had an up and down season for New York so far but in his last outing on Friday against Tampa Bay he had an exceptional outing.
Coming off a career night, right-hander Masahiro Tanaka will take the ball looking to build upon his previous start when the Yankees face Jordan Zimmermann and the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon in the Bronx. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
Tanaka (8-9, 5.09 ERA) has been inconsistent for much of 2017. Several of his outings have been of similar quality to his 14-strikeout performance on Friday night, only to see him regress in his following start. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
After he struck out 13 against the Athletics on May 26, he allowed seven earned runs over 5 2/3 innings the next time he took the mound. Tanaka tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Blue Jays on July 3 before surrendering five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings six days later. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
Adding to this are his splits against the Tigers. Tanaka is 0-2 with a 5.60 ERA in three starts lifetime vs. the Tigers. They've touched him up for five homers and 13 runs (11 earned) over 17 2/3 innings. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
Still, Tanaka's start against the Rays on Friday night featured him at, perhaps, his most electric, which should give the Yankees hope that he's started to return to his ace-like form of previous years. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
Of Tanaka's 21 swinging strikes in his last outing, 18 came on sliders and splitters. He also got 18 on pitches out of the strike zone, second most by any pitcher in a game this season behind Zack Greinke's 19 on May 27." according to tohttp://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
Zimmermann has fared well in his three career starts against the Yankees. He's 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
Tanaka has not pitched well during day games this season, posting an 0-5 record with a 14.81 ERA. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier is 5-for-18 (.278) with two homers lifetime against Zimmermann. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
Detroit's Ian Kinsler leads Major League Baseball with a 19-game on-base streak. New York's Brett Gardner leads the Majors with a 13-game hitting streak. "according to http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170801245876006/which-tanaka-will-show-up-vs-zimm-tigers/?game_pk=491699
As for New York and Detroit's last game, New York fell short as they got beat by a score of 4-3.
A lot happened on Tuesday when New York took on Detroit at Yankee Stadium.
An offense that has been able to comeback couldn't do it in the second game of a three game series and New York who was leading the American League East is now in second place half a game back of their American League rival Boston who is now leading the division again. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
Greene's first save as a closer was no small task. With a runner on first and one out in the eighth, he entered to face Holliday, who already had two hits. Greene got Holliday to hit into an inning-ending double play and overcame his own throwing error in the ninth to record his third career save, and first since July 21, 2016. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
"I know I had to get five outs before they score one run," Greene said, "so that's what I did." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
Greene's first save as a closer was no small task. With a runner on first and one out in the eighth, he entered to face Holliday, who already had two hits. Greene got Holliday to hit into an inning-ending double play and overcame his own throwing error in the ninth to record his third career save, and first since July 21, 2016. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
"I know I had to get five outs before they score one run," Greene said, "so that's what I did." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
- Anibal Sanchez pitched a season-high 6 2/3 innings and John Hicks lifted a three-run homer as the Tigers defeated the Yankees, 4-3, on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. New York now trails Boston by a half-game in the American League East, as the Red Sox topped the Indians on a walk-off homer in the ninth. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
Sanchez has struggled for much of this season, but he kept opposing hitters off-balance and buckled down with runners in scoring position, holding the Yankees to one hit in six at-bats in those situations. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
"He's moving the ball down and away, and in," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "He's jamming some guys. The changeup was good. The slider was very good tonight." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
With Jacoby Ellsbury representing the tying run at third against Shane Greene, the Tigers intentionally walked Brett Gardner to bring up rookie Clint Frazier. Gardner stole second, putting the potential go-ahead run in scoring position, but Frazier popped up to shortstop to end the game. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
"I had a good opportunity to score one or two runs right there," Frazier said. "I didn't come through for us. I've got to be better next time." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
Didi Gregorius singled home Gary Sanchez in the eighth inning to bring the Yankees within a run, which forced Ausmus to call upon Greene for a five-out save. Greene, who was making his first appearance as closer, got Matt Holliday to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play to end the eighth before escaping the jam in the ninth." according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
The Tigers got to Yankees starter CC Sabathia early on, first when Hicks hit his fourth homer of the season in the second inning. Justin Upton cracked a solo home run with two outs in the third to put the Tigers ahead, 4-0." according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
Sabathia, who was making his 500th career regular-season start, said both his slider and changeup were ineffective, which allowed Tigers hitters to foul off tough pitches that normally would've put them away. Both home runs he allowed came with two strikes. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
"I give him a lot of credit," manager Joe Girardi said. "He didn't have his slider or his changeup. They weren't very good, and he managed to give us six innings and keep us in the game." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
Gregorius provided most of his team's offense on Tuesday. In addition to his eighth-inning single, he ripped a two-run homer in the fourth inning, which had an exit velocity of 104.6 mph, according to Statcast™. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
The Tigers had a chance to provide some insurance runs for Greene in the ninth, but Gardner threw out James McCann at the plate trying to score on a single by Andrew Romine, ending the inning. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
Hicks fouled off four two-strike pitches before sending the 10th pitch of the at-bat against Sabathia just over the right-field wall. Although the homer had just a 16-percent hit probability, according to Statcast™, it gave the Tigers an early 3-0 lead. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
"Runner on third, I was just trying to get the ball in the air, get the run in," Hicks said. "He threw me some tough pitches; [I] just got a piece of them. He left a backdoor slider kind of over the plate. Didn't think it was going to go out, but it carried pretty well here." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
Greene's first save as a closer was no small task. With a runner on first and one out in the eighth, he entered to face Holliday, who already had two hits. Greene got Holliday to hit into an inning-ending double play and overcame his own throwing error in the ninth to record his third career save, and first since July 21, 2016. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
"I know I had to get five outs before they score one run," Greene said, "so that's what I did." according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/245852118/anibal-sanchez-tigers-hold-off-yankees/
New York drops to 57-48 while Detroit improves to 48-57. With the loss, New York also drops out of first place and is now half a game back of their American League rival Boston.
New York and Detroit will finish up their series Wednesday afternoon. Right -hander Masahiro Tanaka will start the finale for New York. He has a record of 8-9 with a 5.09 earn run average. Tanaka set a career high with 14 strikeouts against the Rays on Friday night. He went eight innings allowed one run on two hits in the Yankees 6-1 win. He will go up against Detroit right -hander Jordan Zimmerman who has a record of 6-8 with a 5.69 earn run average. Zimmerman held a dangerous Astros lineup to three runs over seven innings in just 80 pitches Friday. He'll have a challenge against a Yankees lineup in a homer -friendly ballpark, but an effective curve ball could help him greatly. "according to https://www.mlb.com/gameday/tigers-vs-yankees/2017/08/02/491699#game_state=preview,game_tab=,game=491699
Which Masahiro Tanaka will show up for the finale against Detroit? Inconstant or consistent Masahiro Tanaka who struck out 14 batters in his last outing on Friday in a 6-1 win over Tampa Bay? Will Detroit be able to get there offense going against Masahiro Tanaka? Will Masahiro Tanaka give New York a chance to take the series? Will the New York offense be able to get it going against Detroit's Jordan Zimmerman?
First pitch is set for 1:05 pm. The game will be televised on Major League Baseball Network. "according to https://www.mlb.com/gameday/tigers-vs-yankees/2017/08/02/491699#game_state=preview,game_tab=,game=491699