Tanaka's Perfect Record Washes Away In Chicago Rain

 
GAME 44: The Yanks suffered a disappointing defeat tonight at Wrigley Field as Masahiro Tanaka experienced his first MLB loss against the Chicago Cubs.  Before this start he hasn’t recorded a loss in 639 days, dating back to August 19th 2012.  Overall he pitched a pretty decent game, striking out seven and making two amazing assists on back-to-back safety squeezes at the plate with Brian McCann.  His command was clearly not what we’re used to seeing from the right-hander.
Perhaps you take into consideration that this is the second time around that the Cubbies have seen Masahiro Tanaka‘s stuff and possibly figured him out.  Or was it the dark and gloomy rain clouds surrounding the stadium followed by thunderstorms and lightning strikes?  Regardless, the Yankee bats should’ve picked up their ace and helped him out of a rough outing.
Jason Hammel was hit on the pitching hand by a grounder off of Brett Gardner who reached safely at first.  His next  pitch was 10 feet high off the plate, leading everyone to think that his night could possibly be over.  He battled back shutting down the Yanks.  Our bats were non-existent with too many slumping holes in the line-up and runners left stranded on base.
On the bright side, Derek Jeter went 2-4, Yangervis Solarte went 1-4, and Brett Gardner who has been heating up lately, raised his batting average above .300, went 2-4 with a walk and scored on a clutch 2 out RBI from Mark Teixeira‘s line drive into right field. Here’s the box score and the recap . The bullpen struggled yet again, with Preston Claiborne, Matt Thornton, and Matt Daley giving the Cubs two more runs and breathing room for their bullpen.
Memory Lane:  On May 20th 1948 Joe DiMaggio  went for the full cycle going 5-6 with 6 RBI against the Chicago White Sox in a 13-2 victory. (Source: Baseball Reference)