New York Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka had a shaky second rehab assignment Wednesday but said he had no physical issues after tossing three innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders against the Pawtucket Red Sox.
Tanaka was scheduled to throw 65 pitches, but ended up throwing 62. He allowed three earned runs on four hits in three innings, with two walks and four strikeouts. Scranton won the game 9-6.
"I have no problems whatsoever, and that includes my physical condition," said Tanaka, who landed on the disabled list on April 27 because of tendinitis in his wrist and a strained forearm.
"I'm pitching like this down (in the minors) so I think I would have no problem even pitching up (in the majors)," said the former Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles ace.
"The important thing is that the Yankees win."
Tanaka allowed a hit on his first pitch as Jackie Bradley Jr. lined a one-hop double off the right-field fence.
Quintin Berry then singled and Allen Craig walked to load the bases. Tanaka struck out Brentz, but Travis Shaw lofted a sacrifice fly to score Bradley.
During Shaw's at-bat, Tanaka summoned the grounds crew to do extensive work on the mound.
"A chunk of clay came off from the mound," Tanaka was quoted as saying by the Yankees website. "It was my planting foot (that gave me problems)."
Tanaka got out of the first inning when he fanned Luke Montz.
Deven Marrero drew a leadoff walk in the second and Humberto Quintero lined a single to right, sending Marrero to third. Marrero scored on Mike Miller's groundout.
Bradley completed the scoring off Tanaka by homering on a fly ball to right for a 3-0 lead.
Tanaka could return to play for the Yankees in a three-game series starting June 1 against the Seattle Mariners.