Astros make Tanaka pay for mistakes in playoff debut

In their biggest game in three years, the New York Yankees needed a $155-million performance from Masahiro Tanaka.

The results, however, were decidedly mixed.

Tanaka's home run troubles at Yankee Stadium continued against the free-swinging Houston Astros on Tuesday, when the right-hander allowed a pair of solo homers and scattered four hits over five innings in the decisive single-game elimination.

"I took him out after five innings because our 7, 8, 9 guys were as good as anyone in the league," manager Joe Girardi said after the Yankees' 3-0 loss. "I knew we really couldn't afford to give them any more runs the way (Dallas) Keuchel was pitching."

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

The Yankees' big-money pitcher looked sharp in the first with a steady array of sliders and cutters, but Colby Rasmus and Carlos Gomez aggressively jumped on first-pitch offerings to begin the second and fourth to put the hometown Yankees in a 2-0 hole.

"He just made some mistakes. He had had a fastball he kind of pulled to Rasmus. He left a breaking ball up to Gomez," Girardi said. "A lot of nights you give up two runs, five innings you've got a pretty good chance to win. But we just haven't been able to solve Keuchel this year. We haven't been able to do it."

Tanaka, who surrendered a whopping 17 homers in 14 home outings this season, was making his first career postseason start. He was replaced prior to the sixth by left-hander Justin Wilson.

Keuchel, meanwhile, cruised through the Yankees lineup over six shutout innings while pitching on short rest for the first time in his career. The Cy Young candidate allowed just three hits and struck out seven to help the Astros advance to the AL Division Series against the Kansas City Royals.