Monday, April 6, 2015

Recap: Blue Jays 6, Yankees 1

Masahiro Tanaka had a rough first start of the season, surrendering four earned runs in just four innings as the Yankees fell to the Blue Jays, 6-1, on Opening Day Monday at Yankee Stadium.

Tanaka's Woes: Tanaka cruised through this one's first two innings, but struggled greatly with his command in the Blue Jays' half of third. He let Toronto's eight and nine hitters reach before a Chase Headley throwing error, a Russell Martin two-run single and an Edwin Encarnacion two-run homer put the visitors up 5-0 -- eventually causing Tanaka's day to end prematurely.

Offense Flustered: The Yankees mustered just three hits in six innings against Drew Hutchison, and didn't register a baserunner until the bottom of the third. Their lone run on the afternoon came on a solo shot from Brett Gardner in the sixth -- a line drive to right-center that just had enough on it to find the seats.

A-Rod's Return to the Bronx: Alex Rodriguez walked to lead-off the third and singled to lead-off the fifth -- his first hit since late 2013. In the seventh, Rodriguez laced one hard into the right-center field gap off Aaron Loup, but Jose Bautista was able to run it down for the out.

Bullpen Impresses: Chris Martin struck out each of the three hitters he faced in the fifth and David Carpenter tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings -- likely the best performances from the Yankees' relief core in the contest. Elsewhere, Chasen Shreve allowed a run in an inning and a third and Esmil Rogers recorded the last out of the ninth -- Rogers having entered the game after a trio of walks by Justin Wilson. 

Rally Killer: With the Yankees threatening with men on first and second and two out in the eighth, Didi Gregorius was gunned down trying to steal third -- a mistake that garnered a seemingly-angry look by manager Joe Girardi. Girardi was seen talking to Gregorius following the play, apparently upset with the latter's decision to run. 

Next Up: Michael Pineda will take the hill for his 2015 debut when the Yankees host the Blue Jays again on Wednesday -- a matchup you can see live on YES and SNET. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is expected to oppose Pineda when the action begins at 7:05 p.m. ET -- Pineda's sixth career start versus the Jays. 

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)