Yankees Get Initial Positive Injury Update on Masahiro Tanaka
By Karl Rasmussen
Breathe a deep sigh of relief, Yankees fans. It looks like Masahiro Tanaka is going to be okay.
After taking a 113 mph ground ball off his shin in the sixth inning against the Rays, Tanaka exited the game and went straight into the Yankees locker room. After undergoing x-rays on his right shin, it appears that he has avoided serious injury.
Masahiro Tanaka just had X-Rays on his right shin. They came back negative, but he left today's game with a right shin bruise.
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) May 18, 2019
Per Yankees beat writer Coley Harvey, Tanaka's X-Rays revealed no more than a bruise on his right shin, great news for Yankees faithful who were worried about adding another name to their stockpile of injured stars.
Tanaka has been sensational on the hill over his past few starts, surrendering just one earned run over his past 13 innings of work, alongside 13 strikeouts, 8 hits and no walks.
#Yankees announce that Tanaka left with a right shin contusion (hit by Diaz grounder). X-rays negative.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) May 18, 2019
Unfortunately for the Yankees, just two pitches after Tanaka was removed, reliever Tommy Kahnle surrendered a solo blast to Brandon Lowe, which tied the score and set the table for Austin Meadows' 11th inning game-winner.