Masahiro Tanaka worked into the eighth inning, pitching the surging New York Yankees to a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.
After a half-hour rain delay, Tanaka (13-4) had trouble putting batters away. He threw a 22-pitch first inning, starting with a 10-pitch strikeout, but got sharper. Tanaka finished with 10 strikeouts, five hits and a hit batsman and left to a standing ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd of 33,460.
"My split was working the best today. My fastball location has been better than it has the past few games," said Tanaka, in whose starts this season the Yankees are 22-7.