take the ball
マー君は公式戦デビューとされる４月４日のブルージェイズ戦に向けて、仕上がりが順調なようです。
Masahiro Tanaka strikes out 10 in six innings of relief for Yankees
Masahiro Tanaka appears ready for his debut in pinstripes.
In his final exhibition tuneup, he struck out 10 and threw six scoreless innings in relief of Hiroki Kuroda in the Yankees’ 3-0 win over the Marlins on Friday night.
The two starters’ next outings will count. Tanaka gave up three hits with no walks.
“They both did what you want to see in their last outing,” Joe Girardi said. “I thought they both were really good.”
In five exhibition games, Tanaka gave up five runs and struck out 26 over 21 innings for a 2.14 ERA. The righthander signed a $155 million, seven-year contract in January. He was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year while
leading Rakuten to its first Japan Series title.
Tanaka is expected to take the ball in the Yankees’ fourth game, Friday in Toronto.
He will also receive the James P. Dawson Award on Saturday as the Yankees’ top rookie in camp.
take the ballは先発投手がマウンドに置かれているボールを拾うことから、「先発登板をする」という意味で用いられます。take up a ballと混同しないようにしましょう。（GP）
