Sliders, sliders and wait for a second…more sliders from Masahiro Tanaka’s scorching-hot arsenal on Tuesday night. Tanaka performed phenomenally, utilizing his slider and split-finger fastball like a painter perfecting his craft on a canvas sheet. He pitched an extraordinary, 7 shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 7 batters on 106 pitches. When Tanaka is locating his slider and split-finger fastball on a sufficient scale, as he did on Tuesday night, he is without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most ferocious pitchers to face in the league.
Aaron Judge also achieved quite a milestone in his young career. In the top of the 1st, Judge hammered and I mean crushed a booming, 2-run moonshot to deep center field. This bad boy traveled a ridiculous 462 feet with an exit velocity of 114.1 MPH. Not a cheap shot by any means. Judge’s blast signified his 100th career home run, becoming the 3rd fastest player in MLB history to do so (371 games.)
As Tanaka continued to deal and pumped out quality pitches, the offensive firepower tacked on 3 runs in the top of the 3rd. With no outs and runners on the corners, Brett Gardner hooked a 3-run homer into right field, traveling 360 feet with an exit velocity of 90.2 MPH. In the top of the 5th, Austin Romine cashed in the 6th run of the game, trading an out for a run in the process. Romine also collected the last run of the game in the top of the 9th. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Romine produced a quality at-bat that resulted in a walk, forcing a run to score.
Luis Cessa fulfilled the complete shutout in the bottom of the 9th, acquiring a strikeout in the process and granting the Yanks with a 7-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Overall, this game was next to flawless. The offense was explosive and disciplined, the pitching was remarkable and unmatched and the vibe from the organization itself was pure satisfaction. The Yanks are now in possession of an 87-47 (.649) record, which is the best in the American League and tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best in the MLB.