When they absolutely had to have it, the New York Yankees received exactly what they needed from ace Masahiro Tanaka in a (6-3) Game 1 win over Toronto. Although Blue Jays’ starter Marcus Stroman pitched an effective ball game, his offense couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain and was held mostly silent throughout.
Tanaka was dominantly brilliant tonight, getting ahead with strike one and never really having to toss any really stressful pitches during his outstanding outing. Terrific Tanaka left to begin the eighth, after tossing seven innings, allowing just one run on five hits with only one walk and eight strikeouts.