Tanaka Not In Clover, Yanks Lose to Padres

Every season, Momoiro Clover Z, a vocal group from Japan, records a new track exclusively for Yankee pitcher Masahiro Tanaka to use as his warmup song. Last night, for the 1st time, they got to watch him pitch live.

They picked a heck of a game: Against the San Diego Padres at Yankee Stadium, he let in 4 runs in the 1st inning, 1 for every member of the group. (According to their "J-pop" videos, they've had more, usually 5 or 6.) One heck of a case of onebadinningitis. He settled down, and got through the 6th inning without allowing any more runs. But the damage was done. The group's name may have "Clover" in its name, but Tanaka was most definitely not "in clover."

Gary Sanchez hit a home run in the 4th, to cut the deficit to 4-1. But the Padres scored again in the 6th, and that made the difference. In the 7th, a DJ LeMahieu single scored 2 runs, and a fielder's choice brought a run home, to bring the Yankees to within a run, but they stranded runners on 1st and 3rd.

They did make a go of it in the 9th. Gio Urshela hit a leadoff single, but Brett Gardner grounded into a fielder's choice, and LeMahieu grounded into a double play. At first, the umpire ruled him safe. But the Padres' manager, Andy Green -- no relation to New Jersey Devils Captain Andy Greene -- asked for a video replay. To me, one angle made DJLM look safe, and another made him look out. "Tie goes to the runner"? Not this time: The umpires ruled him out, and that ended the game.

I can't complain too much about the call: The Yankees just didn't get the job done.

Padres 5, Yankees 4. WP: Eric Lauer (4-4). SV: Kirby Yates (21). LP: Tanaka (3-4).

The series concludes this afternoon. Good news: James Paxton has been activated from the Injured List, and will start. Of course, knowing Brian Cashman, he'll probably have Aaron Boone pull him after only 4 innings, and play musical chairs with the bullpen. Chris Paddack is set to start for the Padres.