Masahiro Tanaka will look to keep his record unblemished when the New York Yankees (23-20) collide with the Chicago Cubs (15-27) for the third time this season on Tuesday at the Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.
Tanaka has been showing why several teams, including the Cubs, made a strong push to acquire him during the offseason, displaying his wide array of pitching skills this early in the season.
The 25-year-old Japanese pitcher, who signed a seven-year deal worth $155 million during the offseason, remains unbeaten this season, 6-0, with a 2.17 ERA. Tanaka has won 34 straight regular season games dating back to his final season at the Japanese League before moving to the big league.
Tanaka, who is the first Yankees rookie to win in his first six games as a starter since Whitey Ford did the same feat in 1950, led the Yankees to a 4-0 shutout on Wednesday - his first career shutout in the majors.
"Basically, I'll just try to carry that on to the next game," Tanaka said via ESPN. "It's not always going to be perfect, but that's what you're trying to aim for."
Tanaka also had an impressive performance against the Cubs during the first game of their double-header last month, helping the Yankees score a 3-0 win, which was followed by 2-0 win later in that day.
Cubs manager Rick Renteria, whose team will be the first to face Tanaka twice this season, is confident that their hitters will perform better against the right hander on Tuesday night after having a glimpse of his arsenal last month.
"It helps," Renteria said. "Now he's thrown quite a few games. He's a guy we definitely have to make sure we get the ball up."
The Yankees are tipped to score their first three-straight shutout against an opponent since 1972 as they have dominated the Cubs in their recent meetings, winning four-straight, and in seven of their last eight meetings.
The Yankees-Cubs match is scheduled to start 8:05 p.m. EST. Below is the complete MLB schedule for Tuesday:
- Detroit vs Cleveland 7:05 PM
- Cincinnati vs Washington 7:05 PM
- Baltimore vs Pittsburgh 7:05 PM
- Toronto vs Boston 7:10 PM
- Milwaukee vs Atlanta 7:10 PM
- LA Dodgers vs NY Mets 7:10 PM
- Philadelphia vs Miami 7:10 PM
- Oakland vs Tampa Bay 7:10 PM
- Seattle vs Texas 8:05 PM
- NY Yankees vs Chicago Cubs 8:05 PM
- Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City 8:10 PM
- Arizona vs St. Louis 8:15 PM
- San Francisco vs Colorado 8:40 PM
- Houston vs LA Angels 10:05 PM
- Minnesota vs San Diego 10:10 PM
