Tanaka remains undefeated after 9-3 win over Rays

Masahiro Tanaka tossed 7 innings of three-run ball and Dellin Betances followed him with a three-out performance of his own today as the Yankees bounced back nicely from last night's extra-inning loss with a win over the Rays, 9-3. In this one's early stages, Tanaka struggled pretty badly, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits in Tampa Bay's first 4 at-bats, but after that he seemed to get things under control, surrendering just one more hit in his last three innings to earn the W. 

Anyway, the Yanks offense somehow didn't put a baserunner on until this afternoon's bottom of the fourth, but still, they definitely had a good day. After getting that first guy to first, the Bombers got on the board with two-run home run from Mark Teixeira, followed later by an RBI Double from Jacoby Ellsbury, a solo shot from Kelly Johnson, and another RBI hit from #25. After those big plays, the Pinstripes tacked on another 4 just for the fun of it, as Alfonso Soriano drove in a guy with a Sac Fly, Ichiro hit an RBI Double, and the struggling Brett Gardner connected on a 2-run single. 

Besides those guys, Brian Roberts and Preston Claiborne also contributed to this victory, going 1-for-4 with a single and an run and throwing a scoreless inning of relief respectively. That three-out performance, impressively, lowers Claiborne's ERA to just 1.17, something not bad for a guy who started the year in the minors.