The New York Yankees cruised to an easy win against the Detroit Tigers thanks to a perfect performance by Masahiro Tanaka.
- Detroit Tigers: 1 (3-12)
- New York Yankees: 7 (13-3)
- Grapefruit League, FINAL, Box Score
- George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, FL
Gary Sanchez got the scoring going for New York in the bottom of the first after Jacoby Ellsbury singled off Daniel Norris. Sanchez, who entered the game with three spring home runs, popped one up to right field but the ball kept carrying and carrying until it landed over the wall for a two-run homer.
The young stud kept his day going in the fifth, as he drove in Brett Gardner on a RBI single off to center Edward Mujica to make it 3-1, Yankees. Matt Holliday, the next batter, launched a three-run jack to extend the Bomber’s lead to 6-1.
On the other side of the diamond, the pitching got it done. Tanaka kicked off the contest by hurling four perfect innings which included seven strikeouts in just his second start of the spring. Bryan Mitchell relieved the Yankees’ ace and pitched four innings as well and surrendered one run on three hits.
Manager Joe Girardi turned to right-hander J.R. Graham to close out the contest and he did just that by getting Gustavo Nunez to fly out to left and Jason Krizan to ground into a game-ending 3-6-1 double play to secure the Yankees’ 13th win of the spring (fifth in a row).
3月5日の田中将大の投球。#MasahiroTanaka @MLB pic.twitter.com/53kNN40aEv
— yulogy (@yuarerad) March 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/SalaDeportivaRD/status/840660286730317827
Add in a three-run blast for Matt Holliday and it's 6-1 #Yankees as we play in the 6th!
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 11, 2017
@TorresGleyber continues the souvenir parade. 7-1 #Yankees now in the 6th. #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/vjF3dbpDk8
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 11, 2017
#Yankees No. 1 prospect Gleyber Torres (@MLB's No. 3) swats his 1st #SpringTraining HR (opposite-field shot). Watch: https://t.co/CvZs4ZPQF8 pic.twitter.com/7NMc70CRui
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 11, 2017
#StartSpreadingTheNews, it’s five in a row!#Yankees win, 7-1.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 11, 2017
There’s A First:
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Gleyber Torres slapped his first home run of spring training off former Yankee Justin Wilson. Entering the contest, the 20-year-old owned a .412/.421/.706 slash line with a 1.127 OPS in 11 games in Grapefruit League play.
He’ll be in Double-A Trenton to begin the 2017 regular season, but after his performance in the Arizona Fall League and showcase here in spring training, this kid could be on the fast-track to the Bronx.
High-fives all around for his first #NYYSpring home run. https://t.co/XkGJbnGHsN #GleyberGood pic.twitter.com/tcwCZ2Jaty
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 11, 2017
Perfection:
Tanaka made the most of his work Saturday afternoon by registering seven strikeouts over a perfect four innings of work. New York, who will enter 2017 with nothing but question marks surrounding its rotation, could unquestionably use the 2016 version of the 28-year-old yet again.
Last season, the righty pitched in 199.2 innings, the most by a Yankee since Hiroki Kuroda in 2014, and finished with the third-best ERA (3.07) among qualified American League starters behind Aaron Sanchez of the Toronto Blue Jays (3.00) and Justin Verlander (3.04) of the Detroit Tigers.
Three batters, three strikeouts in the first for Masahiro Tanaka. #YANKSonYES #ace pic.twitter.com/csi6yDEqw9
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 11, 2017
What’s Next?
The Yankees will play their second consecutive game in the friendly confines of George M. Steinbrenner Field on Sunday as they play host to the Atlanta Braves.
CC Sabathia will make his second start of the spring coming off an outing in which he threw two scoreless innings and struck out a pair against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 7. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET and the contest can be heard on WFAN 660/101.9 FM.