The Boston Red Sox couldn’t muster much offense Saturday against the New York Yankees, and Masahiro Tanaka made sure of that.
The Yankees starter had a great outing amid what’s been an extremely inconsistent season, leading New York to a 5-1 win over the Red Sox. The right-hander had two walks and just three strikeouts, but he allowed only one run on a wild pitch to go with five hits over seven dominant innings.
Tanaka’s outing wasn’t necessarily awe-inspiring, but he was able to locate much of his stuff at the bottom of the strike zone. He rarely elevated his pitches and just two of the five hits the right-hander allowed came on balls in the strike zone. Eduardo Nunez doubled on a ball inside, Jackie Bradley Jr. singled on one outside, and Rafael Devers managed to hit a blooper on a ball way below the zone.
So while the Red Sox certainly need an offensive boost to finish out this series with a split Sunday, there wasn’t much they could have done against Tanaka.
Here are some more notes from Saturday’s loss.
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— As good as Tanaka was Saturday, the Red Sox also have been miserable with runners in scoring position against the Yankees this season.
Boston is batting .283 with RISP otherwise, so it appears it’s just something about the Yankees that the Red Sox can’t figure out.
— There was a lot said about Red Sox manager John Farrell’s decision to let Drew Pomeranz pitch to Chase Headley — who already had a solo home run and a single — after walking Didi Gregorius to start off the sixth inning. However, Pomeranz had given the skipper plenty of reason to trust him before he gave up a three-run shot to Yankees designated hitter Matt Holliday.
— Devers had a rough day, as he was caught stealing second in a botched hit-and-run attempt and committed a throwing error in the first that put catcher Gary Sanchez in scoring position.
Thumbnail photo via Gregory J. Fisher/USA TODAY Sports Images
