Despite getting ahead early, the Yankees dropped the opener of this three -game set in Houston 4-3. The first two-thirds of the game gave us a tense pitcher’s duel, but when it came time to go to the pens, the Yankees’ uber relief corps was bested.
Masahiro Tanaka twirled a gem through six innings, but manager Aaron Boone lifted him with a 3-1 lead for Zack Britton to start the seventh. Tanaka only threw 78 pitches to that point, but he did get into a jam in his last inning and the Yankees had several of their high-priority relievers available.