If the New York Yankees entered the week with any doubts about needing to strengthen the rotation, it should be gone after the most recent blowup on Thursday against the Boston Red Sox.
Masahiro Tanaka took the mound with an opportunity to silence the crowd at Fenway Park and hopefully send them out of the stadium early. Instead, he allowed a three-run blast to Xander Bogaerts that soared out of the park. Things unraveled even more after that for New York.
One bad start shouldn’t raise any major alarms for New York’s front office, but Tanaka’s complete flop is just the latest in a string of utter disaster for this rotation.
Even if the Red Sox are far behind the Yankees in the AL East standings, the start added to the pressure fans are putting on New York’s front office. Meanwhile, Boston’s fan base delighted in the misery of its rival.