Tanaka hoping to keep Ohtani silent at plate ... again

ANAHEIM — The Yankees would be fine with Masahiro Tanaka continuing to dominate Shohei Ohtani when the Japanese stars face each other Saturday night at Angel Stadium.

Ohtani, the only two-way player in the majors, was the Angels’ DH Friday against Luis Severino.

He went 1 for 2 with a solo homer in the second inning before leaving the game with a mild left ankle sprain. Ohtani was pinch hit for in the seventh before the Yankees won 4-3 in 10 innings. Though listed as day-to-day, Ohtani could be back at DH against Tanaka.

Ohtani was hitting .333 (14for-42) with three homers, 11 RBIs and a .997 OPS in 15 games entering Friday night’s action.

Ohtani will be looking for his first hit off Tanaka. In 2013, Ohtani went 0-for-11 against Tanaka. It was Tanaka’s last year pitching for Rakuten and he went 24-0 before joining the Yankees.

When Ohtani became a free agent, the Yankees were the early favorite to land the right-handed pitcher and left-handed hitter. And Tanaka was looking forward to playing with the 23-year-old.

“Disappointed may not be the right word but how talented he is and how he would have been a plus for the team, sure, I would have loved to play with him,’’ Tanaka said.

Like a lot of big leaguers, Tanaka is awed by Ohtani pitching and hitting. Ohtani is 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA in four starts and will start Tuesday against the Orioles.

“He is doing something very special,’’ said Tanaka, who is 3-2 with a 4.97 ERA in five starts. “Look around, no one else is doing it.’’

➤ Tyler Austin started a fourgame suspension on Friday night, but that didn’t mean a complete day off for the first baseman, who played a big part in the Yankees’ taking a sixgame winning streak into the first of three games against the Angels.

Austin took early batting practice and fielded ground balls during the afternoon in a workout that included Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres taking ground balls at third and second base, respectively. Fresh off his game-ending home run on Thursday, Gary Sanchez also took early batting practice.

Austin went 9-for-28 (.321) with two homers and 10 RBIs playing first on the recent homestand.

As per the suspension, which was reduced from five games to four after Thursday’s game, Austin can take regular batting practice, but has to leave the ballpark before the first pitch.

The Yankees not only will miss Austin’s bat, they also will have to play a man short until he returns Tuesday night in Houston. Neil Walker, who has started 11 games at first, will fill in for Austin with the hope of shaking off an 11-for-64 (.172) start. Nine of those hits by the switch-hitting Walker were singles.

Walker went 0 for 3 on Friday with a sac fly.