Masahiro Tanaka (9-1, 2.02 ERA) is going for his tenth win of the season against Chris Young (5-3, 3.42 ERA) and the Mariners. Tanaka has continued to amaze. His 2.02 ERA is the best in the American League and he is behind only Mark Buehrle in wins. He comes into this start with a six game winning streak.
Young has never lost at Safeco Field in 9 career starts (6-0, 2.84 ERA), including a 3-0, 1.89 line in five games his season. He lost in Tampa Bay in his last start, giving up three runs in five innings. He faces a Yankees offense that is still struggling to produce. The Yanks had lost seven of 10 games prior to Tuesday’s win and scored just 28 runs in the process. They rank 13th in the AL in runs scored. But of course Joe Girardi sees no problem.
“I think you make evaluations every day. I think that’s a fair thing to do,” he said. “But as I told you, I’m an optimist and I believe in these guys. I haven’t forgotten how tough the game is, and how difficult it is when you walk into that little batter’s box, and how quickly you have to make a decision to square up a ball or not swing. I’ll continue to believe in them. I will.” The Yankees are 5 1/2 games behind the first place Blue Jays in the division “You just keep battling,” Derek Jeter said. “That’s all you can do is keep battling. It’s not the first time that I’ve struggled, not the first time that the team struggled. You’ve just got to keep battling through it. If it was easy, no one would ever struggle.”
Jeter, who is batting .259 this season, has had success at Safeco Field in his career. “It’s always fun to come to Seattle,” he said. “This is where I played my first game, so every time I come here, that’s the memory that comes to mind first. This is where it all began. I know it’s been quite some time, but I’ve always enjoyed coming here to Seattle.”
Notes on the game
Tanaka has 92 strikeouts and just 13 walks, and he’s yet to allow more than three earned runs in a game.
Seattle has won eight of their last 10 games, four have been shutouts.
Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest by a Yankee since Jeter’s 19 game streak in September 2012.
Mariners starters rank third in the AL in ERA.
First pitch at 10:10 PM on Yes.
