Masahiro Tanaka won the pitcher’s duel with Chris Sale, as his complete game shutout leads an authoritative New York Yankees victory.

  • New York Yankees: 3 (13-7)
  • Boston Red Sox: 0 (11-10)
  • American League, FINAL, Box Score
  • Fenway Park, Boston, MA

The New York Yankees were able to complete the two-game sweep over the Boston Red Sox with a 3-0 victory led by a complete game shutout by their ace, Masahiro Tanaka.

Tanaka surrendered just three hits while striking out three during his second-career strikeout and became just the ninth Yankee starter since 1990 to toss a shutout while striking out three or fewer. The last one to do so was Chien-Ming Wang on July 28, 2006.



Boston’s starter Chris Sale struck out ten but he chose a bad day to surrender three runs over eight innings, as his offense couldn’t get anything going off the Yankees’ ace.

Offensively, it was Matt Holliday doing the heavy lifting as he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs including a first-inning sacrifice fly following a 10-pitch at-bat to give New York a 1-0 lead, then a double in the top of the ninth to pad the lead to 2-0.

Yes, they left four runners on base, were 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position and never really built a solid rally off one of the best starters in baseball, but Tanaka’s gem and Holliday’s timely hitting were enough to propel the Yankees to their 13th win of the season.

It’s Been A While: 

With Tanaka’s shutout win, he became the first Yankees starter to toss a complete game shutout win since Brandon McCarthy did on Aug. 21, 2014, against the Houston Astros. Interestingly enough, no Yankee starter tossed a complete game in 2016 for the first time in franchise history.

 

Fire Sale: 

When Chris Sale struck out Austin Romine in the top of the third for his sixth on the day, he tied Hall Of Famer Randy Johnson for the longest streak of six strikeouts or more by a left-handed starter vs the New York Yankees. Boston’s ace has accomplished the feat for the eighth consecutive time dating back to Aug. 22, 2012.

Guess Who’s Back…

Didi Gregorius, who’s currently on the disabled list with a shoulder strain suffered at the World Baseball Classic, will be reinstated from the DL ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium.

It’s unclear as to where the shortstop will hit in the lineup, but manager Joe Girardi should be salivating at the thought that his lineup, which entered play on Thursday with the highest wRC+ in baseball, is getting back a player who hit 20 home runs in 2016.

In five rehab games for the High-A Tampa Yankees, Gregorius went 8-for-18 (.444) with a home run and two RBIs

What’s Next: 

New York will head back to the Bronx and play host to the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.



Getting the start for the Yankees will be CC Sabathia, coming off his first loss of the season on April 21 at Pittsburgh in an eventual 6-3 defeat. His current 2.70 ERA is his lowest ERA through his first four starts of a season since he posted a 1.57 ERA in 2013.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET and can be caught on the YES Network or on the radio at WFAN 660/101.9 FM.

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