Tanaka triumphant in Yankees-Red Sox debut
Boston (AFP) - New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was a winner in his first Major League Baseball game against the archrival Boston Red Sox, striking out seven in 9-3 victory.
The 25-year-old Japanese right-hander, signed to a seven-year deal worth $155 million in January, scattered seven hits over 7 1/3 innings while walking none.
Tanaka surrendered his only runs on back-to-back home runs by David Ortiz and Mike Napoli in the fourth inning Tuesday and improved to 3-0 in the young season with his first triumph at historic Fenway Park.
Jacoby Ellsbury, who helped the Red Sox win two World Series titles in seven years with Boston, went 2-for-5 with a triple and a double and drove in two runs in his first Fenway appearance for the Yankees, who signed the star outfielder to a seven-year deal for $153 million.
Tanaka's triumph was his 31st in a row in regular-season games, a run that includes the last four games of his 2012 season in Japan, his 24-0 run last year for the Japan series champion Rakuten Eagles and his first three decisions for the Yankees.
The only loss Tanaka has suffered in that span came in last year's Japan Series, when the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants beat him in game six only to watch him earn the save in the series-clincher the next night.
Tanaka had a 1.27 earned run average and 183 strikeouts last year in Japan.
Also for the Yankees, Brian McCann went 3-for-4 with an run-scoring double and Carlos Beltran finished 2-for-5 with a homer and drove in two runs.
