The ball is juiced. He’s tipping pitches. Hiro’s a Zero, the backpage headline blared. Mess-ahiro, another backpage headline screamed.
Was it his elbow? A mechanical flaw? Fatigue? What happened to that vaunted splitter? Who hijacked Masahiro Tanaka? Who was this imposter with a 5-7 record and 6.34 ERA wearing No. 19?
Perhaps all it took for Tanaka to rediscover his long-lost inner ace was the mere sight of the Rangers’ Yu Darvish on the mound, an elder countryman he had faced four times in Japan and greatly respects.
This was the Tanaka the Yankees so desperately need to keep The Bronx burning and shock the baseball world.