Tanaka no hero in rare flop

Masahiro Tanaka’s playoff résumé gave the Yankees confidence as he headed to the mound to face the Astros for a pressure-packed Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday night. The right-hander picked a bad time for a mediocre start.

Tanaka lacked the sharpness he showed in Game 1, and while he survived a rough third inning that could have been even worse, it wasn’t enough in an 8-3 loss at Yankee Stadium.

Tanaka retired six of the first seven batters he faced before losing his way in the third inning. He began by walking No. 8 batter Robinson Chirinos, who had been 0-for-7 in the series, on four pitches.

Josh Reddick followed with a single before George Springer — previously 1-for-13 in the ALCS and 4for-34 in the 2019 postseason — drilled a 1-0 splitter to left field for a three-run home run and a 3-1 lead.

“Just a splitter that got too much of the plate,” Tanaka said through an interpreter after giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks in five-plus innings. “Nothing good is going to happen when you walk the first batter.”

Tanaka invited further damage as he allowed back-to-back singles to Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley with no outs. But he avoided a full-on meltdown and got out of the inning with the deficit at just two runs.

Tanaka, who was starting on regular rest after Wednesday’s postponement, locked in over the next two innings, retiring all six batters he faced and began the sixth inning with 82 pitches under his belt. But after Alex Bregman led off reaching on a fielding error by DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Boone made the call to the bullpen to end Tanaka’s night.

“I thought he battled well,” Boone said. “They made pretty good contact with him. … The fact that he got as deep through their order as he did I think kind of speaks to his guile a little bit. I didn’t really think he had his split tonight.”

Chad Green relieved and gave up a three-run homer to Carlos Correa to make it 6-1.

In seven prior career playoff starts, Tanaka had posted a 1.32 ERA. That postseason bravado was on display in Game 1 at Minute Maid Park, as he went six shutout innings against the Astros in a 7-0 win.

“The stuff,” Tanaka said, “there wasn’t much difference to it.”