Masahiro Tanaka Yankees Stats: Rookie Blanks Mets, Tosses Complete Game; Star Remains Perfect in 2014
Masahiro Tanaka continues to show off his unbelievable talents in Major League Baseball.
His latest gem came against the cross town rivals, New York Mets, on the "road" at Citi Field. Tanaka pitched all nine innings for the first time in his young career, surpassing his previous high of eight innings, which took place against the Chicago Cubs on April 16. The young Japan-born pitcher has been everything (and more) the New York Yankees could have dreamed of.
Against the Mets, Tanaka pitched a complete game while allowing zero earned runs against. Perhaps the most incredible statistic from Tanaka's performance was his zero walks. It's incredibly rare that a pitcher throws a complete nine-inning game and doesn't walk a single batter. The Mets were only able to get four hits on the night against the young phenom pitcher. Tanaka is the first Yankees pitcher in franchise history to begin his career 6-0 since the great Whitey Ford.
This was a huge win and confidence booster for the Yankees. The Pinstripes were 0-4 against the Mets last season and 0-2 this season heading into this game. This Yankees victory ends a six game losing streak to Mets.
On the season, Tanaka has pitched 58 innings in his eight starts and has a 6-0 record. His 2.17 ERA ranks among some of the best pitchers in all of baseball, and his 66 strikeouts is good enough for fifth place. Tanaka most incredible statistic continues to be his strikeout to walk ratio. So far, Tanaka has struck out 66 batters and only walked 7, which means Tanaka isn't even averaging a walk per game.
Not only did Tanaka shutout the Mets, but he also got his first major league hit. The hit came in the ninth inning off of José Valverde for a single. His teammates cheered and loved the fact that the star pitcher was able to cap off his amazing night with a hit.
Yankees Manager Joe Giradi said "he's been special," referring to Tanaka's performance thus far. With three American League East teams tied with 20 victories, these wins couldn't be more valuable for the Yankees.
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