The Yankees welcomed Edwin Encarnacion on Monday and general manager Brian Cashman expressed a need for more starting pitching.
Then they went out and began a crucial homestand by showing again that they’re already pretty good.
Masahiro Tanaka tossed a two-hit shutout in his best outing of the season and the offense got homers from DJ LeMahieu and Cameron Maybin in a 3-0 win over Tampa Bay in The Bronx.
With their third straight victory, the Yankees extended their lead in the AL East to 1½ games over the team they’ll be playing 10 more times by the middle of next month.