TANAKA AN ACE IN A HOLE
It's back to square one after Tanaka gets shelled by Orioles
BALTIMORE — Masahiro Tanaka’s exit velocity from staff ace to cement shoes has been so fast the speed guns haven’t been able to track it.
Now the question facing the Yankees about Tanaka is a daunting one that could sabotage a solid first two months if not answered in a positive light.
Shortly after the Orioles pounded Tanaka on the way to a 10-4 win over the Yankees on Wednesday night in front of 22,983 at Camden Yards, Tanaka stood in front of his locker attempting to explain why he gave up seven runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.
“It’s tough, obviously the games I have been pitching we have been losing,’’ said Tanaka, who is 0-4 with an embarrassing 12.23 ERA and has given up 30 hits in 17 2/3 innings in his past four starts. “But we just have to keep on fighting.’’
Because Tanaka didn’t get a small tear of the UCL in his right elbow surgically repaired in 2014, questions about his health immediately follow a poor outing. However, the Yankees insist he never misses a day of work between starts and point to solid outings against the Red Sox and A’s as proof he isn’t injured.
Manager Joe Girardi pointed to an inconsistent slider as Tanaka’s biggest problem Wednesday when he fell to 5-5 with a 6.34 ERA in 11 starts. Tanaka said it wasn’t just the slider that lacked teeth. And catcher Austin Romine said location was a major issue.
“There were a bunch of balls in the middle of the plate that got hit,’’ said Romine, who had a baseball-sized bruise on his lower left leg. “He couldn’t get on the corners very well.’’
Trailing 4-0 in the fourth, Tanaka retired the first two O’s and then gave up a double to J.J. Hardy, the No. 9 hitter. A walk to Seth Smith followed and Adam Jones, who went 3-for-5 and drove in five runs, busted the game open with a three-run homer.
While Tanaka was the main reason for the Yankees losing two of three to the Orioles and seven of 13 overall heading to Toronto to play four games against the sizzling Blue Jays (8-3 in their past 11), he had help from the lineup that went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Orioles starter Kevin Gausman gave up eight hits and five walks but only three runs (two earned).
With the loss, the Yankees’ AL East lead over Boston shrunk to two games.
Because Tanaka struck out 13 A’s last Friday in a 4-1 loss and allowed one run and five hits in 7 ¹ /3, innings the Yankees were confident the former ace who makes $18 million this season was on the mend after two brutal outings in which he worked a combined 4 2/3 innings. Obviously, he wasn’t. “You saw the last time and this time it was unexpected,’’ pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. “The slider wasn’t as sharp and he got hurt with too many cut fastballs.’’
When the season started Tanaka was coming off a splendid spring and showing no signs of what he has become. His first two starts weren’t good but he followed them with four solid outings and a three-hit shutout of the Red Sox in Fenway Park on April 27.
Yet, he has slid so far down the rotation pole that Tanaka has to be viewed as a fifth starter.
“He is always in the bottom of the zone and he was just a half a ball below the zone that our guys quit on,’’ O’s manager Buck Showalter said. “The mistakes he made they put good swings on them.’’
Mistakes and good swings have not been part of the dialogue around Tanaka often since arriving from Japan. These days they are far too common and cause for genuine alarm.