Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka: Lasts only five innings in loss against Astros

Tanaka (7-3) gave up four runs on seven hits over five innings in a loss to the Astros on Wednesday. He struck out four and walked two.

Analysis:

It had been a while since the Yankees lost a game he started, never mind Tanaka taking a loss himself -- the last time either (well, actually, both) of those happened, the Japanese righty gave up five runs in a loss to Detroit back on June 11. Despite the recent winning run, we've seen an inconsistent Tanaka lately -- one who's given up four-plus runs in four of his last nine outings. He also hasn't struck out more than seven in a start all year, emblematic of an overall decline in strikeouts. And yet, even after giving up a long ball Wednesday, Tanaka has cut his homer rate in half despite MLB's 2016 power bonanza, keeping his ERA pretty -- it's now 3.16.