Competition.

"I'm not pitching against so and so. I'm pitching against the opposing team."

Phooey on that:

"Masahiro Tanaka got the best of an exquisite pitchers' duel against Chris Sale in a Thursday night thriller at Fenway Park, leading the Yankees to a 3-0 victory over the Red Sox. Neither team had an extra-base hit.

Tanaka was machine-like with his efficiency, firing a three-hit shutout that required just 97 pitches, aka a 'Maddux.' The sinkerballer walked none and struck out three for his second career shutout, giving the Yankees two straight wins at Fenway in a series that was abbreviated by a postponement on Tuesday.


'I enjoy the competition,' Tanaka said through an interpreter. 'I think a lot of people thought with how well he was pitching up to this point, that probably Chris Sale had the upper hand. But I wanted to go in there and beat the odds.' "