Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts has been plagued by a back injury for the last few weeks and his lack of progress has been frustrating for all parties involved. So the O’s made a move Sunday, sending the 32-year-old back to Baltimore for an epidural and further examination of his ailing back. Roberts is likely to begin the year on the 15-day disabled list and we can’t say for sure when he’ll be healthy enough for full-time action. The nine-year vet hit .283/.356/.451 with 16 homers and 30 stolen bases in 632 at-bats last season.
Masahiro Tanaka throws two-hit shutout vs. Rays
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Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka went the distance, holding the Rays scoreless on two hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts across nine innings on Monday night in the Bronx. It’s the fourth shutout of his career, accounting for four of the Yankees’ last six shutouts. The other two were thrown my Luis Severino and Brandon McCarthy.
DJ LeMahieu provided the bulk of the offense, swatting a two-run home run off of Yonny Chirinos in the third inning. Cameron Maybin tacked on a solo homer off of Chirinos in the fifth as the Yankees went on to win 3-0.
After Monday’s performance, Tanaka owns a 3.23 ERA with 84 strikeouts and 20 walks across 92 innings on the season.
With the win, the Yankees increase their lead over the Rays for first place in the AL East to 1.5 games.
