CLEVELAND -- It was quite awhile after the solid, lone inning that he pitched in his first Major League All-Star Game appearance that Masahiro Tanaka received a nice bonus -- he became the winning pitcher.
Tanaka tossed a scoreless second inning, allowing one hit and striking out one, which was enough to give the New York Yankees right-hander the victory when the American League held on for a 4-3 victory over its National League counterparts on Tuesday in the home stadium of the Cleveland Indians.
"I'm relieved [not to give up a run]," said Tanaka, who made the All-Star Game roster in 2014, his first year in the majors, but missed the game due to an elbow injury. "I was able to throw to good spots."
Tanaka became the first Japanese to appear in the midsummer classic since Yu Darvish and Koji Uehara did so in 2014.
Taking the mound in the second inning, Tanaka struck out Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger, who has 30 home runs and was batting clean-up, swinging with a low splitter. After giving up a two-out infield single, he got the final out with a slider on a grounder back to the box. He threw a total of 17 pitches.
In 2014, he had 12 wins heading into the All-Star Game and was regarded as a Cy Young Award candidate when he suffered a torn ligament in his elbow. Recovering from that injury, he has posted double-digit wins in each of his five seasons.
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