Sliders, sliders and wait for a second…more sliders from Masahiro Tanaka’s scorching-hot arsenal on Tuesday night. Tanaka performed phenomenally, utilizing his slider and split-finger fastball like a painter perfecting his craft on a canvas sheet. He pitched an extraordinary, 7 shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 7 batters on 106 pitches. When Tanaka is locating his slider and split-finger fastball on a sufficient scale, as he did on Tuesday night, he is without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most ferocious pitchers to face in the league.
Aaron Judge also achieved quite a milestone in his young career.