Pinstripe Alley · Aug 19, 2020
Masahiro Tanaka implodes as Yankees fall to the Rays, 6-3
Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports The Yankees had to lose a game at Yankee Stadium eventually. It just happened to take 11 games to get there. The Bombers suffered their first home loss of 2020 on Tuesday night, and in annoying fashion. They fell behind the Rays early, and couldn’t quite claw their way back in. New York fell to Tampa Bay by a score of 6-3.
From the get-go, Masahiro Tanaka looked like a carpenter without a hammer. Tanaka needs his splitter to nail the bottom of the zone to be successful. Instead, it got drilled over and over again. According to Katie Sharp, 14.1% of his pitches were hard-hit, the worst percentage in a start of his Yankees career.