Japan’s Tanaka outshines Darvish in MLB clash
>> NEW YORK: Masahiro Tanaka pitched eight scoreless innings and Yu Darvish fanned 10 batters as the New York Yankees beat Texas 2-1 in the first Major League Baseball showdown between the two Japanese aces.
Tanaka got help from batter Ronald Torreyes as he delivered the game-winning hit by singling with two outs in the bottom of the 10th for the Yankees in Friday’s game at Yankee Stadium.
While it was the first time the Rangers pitcher Darvish and Tanaka faced each other in the majors, it was the fifth overall matchup.
They opposed each other four times in Japan, and in the last meeting on July 2011, when both pitchers went the distance.
Although Tanaka took a no-decision and is winless in his last eight starts, he looked more like the pitcher who tossed a three-hitter at Fenway Park than the pitcher who began the game with a 6.34 ERA.
“Everything,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of what was working for Tanaka.
Tanaka allowed three hits and retired 16 straight batters at one point.
Darvish was even better, though he exited after the seventh because of tightness in his arm. Before leaving the game, Darvish tied a season high with 10 strike-outs and allowed two hits.
“They were two brilliant Japanese pitchers that had faced off before, been stars in the Japanese league and they’re stars here,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said.
It was the 15th game in major league history involving two pitchers from Japan. Seven of those games have involved the Yankees and three occurred against Darvish, who opposed Hiroki Kuroda in 2012 and 2013.
“We both pitched great,” Darvish said. “So there may be something, but I was trying to focus on my pitching.”
In Miami, Giancarlo Stanton hit his 19th home run and Jose Urena scattered five hits over six innings as Miami topped defending champions Chicago Cubs 2-0.
Hanley Ramirez and Sandy Leon hit two-run homers and the Red Sox won 9-4 against the Angels on the night they retired David Ortiz’s number.
It was the 250th career home run for Ramirez, a good friend of Ortiz who was also born in the Dominican Republic. Leon finished with three hits and four RBIs.
Evan Longoria and Shane Peterson drove in four runs apiece to back the pitching of Chris Archer and lead surging Tampa Bay past Baltimore 15-5, while San Diego handed Detroit their seventh straight loss, winning the game 1-0.
Adalberto Mejia combined with three relievers on a four-hitter, leading Minnesota in a matchup of the top two teams in the AL Central in which the Twins prevailed over the Indians 5-0.