MLB

Masahiro Tanaka finally dominates but the Yankees lose

On a night when the main concern heading into the game was Masahiro Tanaka, it was the Yankees’ offense that appeared lost for a change.

Tanaka eased some fears with his best outing since he shut out the Red Sox in Boston on April 27, but the Yankees couldn’t get to Oakland lefty Sean Manaea in a 4-1 loss Friday at the Stadium.

And that left the Yankees’ pitchers almost no margin for error.

When Tanaka was yanked after allowing a one-out single to Adam Rosales in the seventh inning, Tyler Clippard entered and allowed a two-out walk before Jed Lowrie drove in the game’s first run with a single to right. Khris Davis followed with an infield single to score another run to make it 2-0. A two-run homer by Stephen Vogt off Jonathan Holder in the ninth gave the Athletics some cushion.

The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the ninth against Santiago Casilla, loading the bases with one out for Didi Gregorius.

The shortstop hit a sacrifice fly before Gary Sanchez, pinch-hitting for the struggling Chase Headley, popped out to end it.

“We just didn’t seem to pick up Manaea,” manager Joe Girardi said of the pitcher who entered with a 5.24 ERA. “We haven’t seen him a lot. He had a different angle.”

It wasn’t the first time the Yankees’ offense has scuffled this season. Over their past eight games, they have scored just 23 runs and, not surprisingly, have gone 3-5 in that stretch.

“We’re not gonna score seven or eight runs every night,” Girardi said. “We haven’t had any big offensive outbursts lately, but we’ll get going again.”

The lack of run support and poor bullpen work spoiled what was an encouraging night for Tanaka, who set a career-high with 13 strikeouts, allowing one run on five hits.

Tyler Clippard couldn’t get out of the eighth inning unscathed.Charles Wenzelberg

The right-hander, whose recent horrid performance had led to several inquiries about the state of his right arm, was in vintage form.
He had given up 21 earned runs in just 18 innings over his previous four outings. And in his past two starts, he had surrendered 14 runs and failed to get out of the third inning in either game.

Against an A’s team that has hit the fourth-most homers in the majors this season, Tanaka looked once again like an ace. Pitching with Austin Romine behind the plate instead of Sanchez, Tanaka struck out three in the top of the first around a Lowrie double.

By the end of the third, Tanaka had fanned a season-high seven — all swinging. He pitched around two singles in the fourth and a one-out double in the fifth, featuring a nasty splitter and a devastating slider.

The splitter had deserted Tanaka recently, which Girardi noted before the game.

The Yankees and Tanaka were adamant there were no signs anything was wrong with his arm, despite the results and the fact he has pitched with a partially torn UCL in his right elbow since 2014.

And he looked perfectly healthy against Oakland.

Nevertheless, Girardi decided to take him out after 111 pitches.

“If he would have got that second out [of the inning], I would have left him in,” Girardi said.

Instead, the normally reliable Clippard couldn’t do the job.

But the disappearance of the Yankees’ bats against Manaea, who was filling in for a scratched Kendall Graveman, also did them in.

But, if Tanaka has left his troubles behind him, the night won’t have been a total loss.

“He’s got the better part of three years with a lot of success under his belt,’’ pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. “He needed to get back to what he does well. He’s pitched really well here for a long time.”