CHICAGO — By most standards a starting pitcher who goes six innings and gives up three earned runs has done his job very well because it’s considered a quality start.
Nevertheless, when the Cubs did that to Masahiro Tanaka on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field it was viewed as a subpar outing due to eight hits in those six innings of a 6-1 loss.
Before the Yankees’ 4-3 come-from-behind, 10-inning win over the White Sox on Saturday, manager Joe Girardi pointed to Tanaka not having command of the split-fingered fastball, his signature pitch.
“I don’t think it was just my splitter, that goes for all my pitches,’’ said Tanaka, who explained the heavy rain that pelted Wrigley didn’t affect his footing on the mound. “I wasn’t able to control my pitches the way I wanted to. If I knew why I wasn’t able to I would have adjusted during the game.’’
Asked Saturday if he believed leaving pitches up in the zone was a one-time deal or something he worked on in between starts, Tanaka said, “Just watch me in the game.’’
Sunday, Tanaka will be pitching on four days’ rest for the third time this season. The one day less rest was a hot topic when he left Japan where pitchers work every sixth day instead of five in the major leagues.
“It’s been pretty normal, not at the best or not at the worst,’’ Tanaka said via translator. “I feel no problem as far as stamina goes. I could be better as far as the actual pitching goes.’’
Tanaka had a 42-start unbeaten (34-0) streak stopped by the Cubs and with the Yankees struggling to score runs they will welcome their ace since they are 7-2 when Tanaka starts and 18-21 when everybody else starts a game.
Expect White Sox manager Robin Ventura to stack the lineup with left-handed hitters because they are batting .362 (17-for-47) against Tanaka in his last four starts compared to right-handed swingers at .083 (2-for-24).