NEW YORK -- This one was supposed to be big news in Japan, a matchup of former Rakuten Golden Eagles aces Masahiro Tanaka, now of the New York Yankees, and Hisashi Iwakuma of the Seattle Mariners, even if the first pitch was thrown at 2 a.m. Monday morning in Japan.
But it turned out to be even bigger news for the Yankees, who desperately needed Tanaka to come up big, both to avoid a sweep at home by the Mariners, and the ignominy of an early-season five-game losing streak. The Yankees got what they needed out of Tanaka, a seven-inning, six-hit, three-run performance that got better as the game progressed and probably should have only been a one-run outing, if not for an error by Mark Teixeira and an ill-advised play in center field by Jacoby Ellsbury.