Masahiro Tanaka overcomes rough start to win in his major league debut - MLB

Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka enjoyed a successful major league debut last night, allowing three runs (two earned) over seven innings in a 7-3 win over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

It didn’t look so good early on. After being given a 2-0 lead, Tanaka got a rude welcome to the majors by giving up a solo home run to Melky Cabrera on his second pitch of the evening. C’mon Yankees fans, you have to admit that’s pretty funny. The high-priced right-hander gave up two more runs in the second inning on a Jonathan Diaz single, but settled down from there to retire 16 out of the final 18 batters he faced while New York’s offense picked him up.

Tanaka gave up six hits without walking a batter and notched eight strikeouts. As expected, he showed excellent control and a varied arsenal, including his much-hyped splitter. Per Brooks Baseball, he threw a total of 24 splitters and got whiffs on 10 out of 17 swings. Not a bad ratio. He worked mostly in the low 90s with his fastball and topped out at just over 95 mph.

All in all, it was a solid debut and Tanaka was mostly as advertised. If you’re a Yankees fan, you have to be encouraged to see that he bounced back after a rough start.

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PITTSBURGH — The New York Mets will have to dig out of an early-season hole without star first baseman Pete Alonso.

The leading home run hitter in the majors will miss three-to-four weeks with a bone bruise and a sprain in his left wrist.

The Mets placed Alonso on the 10-day injured list Friday, retroactive to June 8. Alonso was hit in the wrist by a 96 mph fastball from Charlie Morton in the first inning of a 7-5 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.

Alonso traveled to New York for testing on Thursday. X-rays revealed no broken bones, but the Mets will be missing one of the premier power hitters in the game as they try to work their way back into contention in the NL East.

“We got better news than it could have been,” New York manager Buck Showalter said. “So we take that as a positive. It could have been worse.”

New York had lost six straight heading into a three-game series at Pittsburgh that began Friday. Mark Canha started at first for the Mets in the opener. Mark Vientos could also be an option, though Showalter said the coaching staff may have to use its “imagination” in thinking of ways to get by without Alonso.

“I’m not going to say someone has to step up and all that stuff,” Showalter said. “You’ve just got to be who you are.”

Even with Alonso in the lineup, the Mets have struggled to score consistently. New York is 16th in the majors in runs scored.

The team also said Friday that reliever Edwin Uceta had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Uceta initially went on the IL in April with what the team called a sprained left ankle. He is expected to be out for at least an additional eight weeks.

New York recalled infielder Luis Guillorme and left-handed reliever Zach Muckenhirn from Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets sent catcher Tomás Nido to Triple-A and designated reliever Stephen Nogosek for assignment.

Nogosek is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 13 games this season.