Masahiro Tanaka struggled in his first game this season as the New York Yankees took a humbling 6-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in their 2015 MLB Opening Day game on Monday.

Tanaka allowed one homer and had a 9.00 ERA on Monday. But while he failed to lead his team to a win, the Japanese pitcher was contented with his performance.

Tanaka, who is trying to get his old form back after sustaining a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow, said that he failed to get his desired results, but he felt good about his performance in the first and second innings, where he tallied three strike outs.

"Overall, I think my pitches were good," Tanaka said through his interpreter. "Obviously the third inning, those weren't the results I wanted. Looking back -- the first inning, second inning -- I think I was pitching well with good tempo and good movement."

However, Blue Jays center fielder Dalton Pompey thinks otherwise. The 22-year-old said that things got a lot easier for them on Monday because Tanaka was not throwing in the same way he was pitching last season before sustaining the elbow injury.

"He wasn't throwing hard," Pompey said via New York Daily News. "He was probably throwing 87-90. That's more than hittable. It's just when he moves the ball and keeps guys off-balance, that's when he's most effective."

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons admitted that their hitters struggled in the first two innings, but they eventually figured things out in the third inning. Gibbons said they noticed Tanaka was just relying too much on his splitter and slider and also pointed out that the Japanese ace's velocity is down.

Before the season opener, Tanaka said he will try to establish a new pitching style this season in the hope of not putting too much pressure on his injured elbow.

"We made some adjustments against Tanaka," Gibbons said after the game. "It's no secret his velocity is down. Anyone who doesn't have that extra velocity, you don't have to commit as early. It gives you more time."

Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild admitted that Tanaka failed to live up to their expectations, but he insisted that the 26-year-old pitcher looked healthy and they are expecting a better performance when he makes his second start against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

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