It appears Masahiro Tanaka is human after all. The 25-year-old rookie out of Japan lost his first career game Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs by a score of 6-1.

Tanaka pitched six innings after being relieved by Manager Joe Girardi. It was a nasty night in Chicago with heavy rains and gusty winds pouring into Wrigley Field. Tanaka's control was off most of the night and he was unable to get into a consistent rhythm like we've seen him in the past. On April 16, Tanaka had his way with the Cubs striking out 10 batters in eight innings and not allowing a single run.

Against the Cubs, Tanaka allowed three earned runs in six innings, good enough for a 4.5 ERA. Not a terrible outing, but a far cry from Tanaka's season average ERA of 2.39. Tanaka still managed to strikeout seven Cubs batters and didn't allow home run for the third consecutive game. His eight hits allowed are tied for the most he's given up in a game.

The Yankees didn't give Tanaka much run support; they would only score one run. Their lone score came from a Mark Teixeira single when Brett Gardner scored in the sixth inning. Joe Girardi was smart to take Tanaka out of the game when he did. It was wise to cut their losses and save Tanaka's arm for the future because of such terrible conditions and little run support.

The American League is a tight race as usual with the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles tied for first place. With CC Sabathia out at least a month, Iván Nova undergoing Tommy John surgery, and Michael Pineda still rehabbing a strain, the Yankees pitching is hurting outside of Tanaka. Yankees hitting is also going to have to improve for this team to continue to stay atop the league standings. Home runs, hits, and batting average must increase and other pitchers must step up.

Despite the poor outing, Tanaka still has a 6-1 record on the season and has 73 strikeouts to just eight walks. It will be interesting to see how Tanaka responds in his next game after the first loss in his career.

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