Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka attributed his struggles in Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox to his ineffective split-finger fastball.

"It wasn't coming out of my hand right," Tanaka said, according to the New York Post's Zach Braziller. "It's not just today, it's been like that for a little bit. I think it comes down to mechanics. I definitely need to make some adjustments, so it's an effective pitch."

Tanaka (1-1) allowed five runs, seven hits and three walks in four-plus innings, falling apart in the fourth.

With one out, courtesy of Yoan Moncada trying to stretch a single into a double, Tanaka allowed a double to Jose Abreu then walked Yonder Alonso and Eloy Jimenez to bring up Tim Anderson, who hit an 0-1 splitter 373 feet to right-center for a grand slam and turn a 2-0 Yankees lead into a 4-2 deficit.

"We got in trouble when it seemed like they took a really patient approach and stopped swinging at a lot of pitches," catcher Kyle Higashioka said. "We were just missing off the edge. It kind of put us in a bad spot."

Tanaka had started the season with a 1.47 ERA in his first three starts, giving up four runs (three earned) in 18 1/3 innings, yet he had only won once, on Opening Day. Since, the Yankees have generated just six runs of support in his last three starts. On Sunday, the Yankees managed just one hit in their last 21 at-bats as a team.

"We weren't able to capitalize like we should -- like this team knows we can," Aaron Judge said, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "We came up short this series."

MCCARRON: Are Yankees' woes truly due to injury? >> Read more

CARELLI: Takeaways from Sunday's loss >> Read more

Popular in the Community