Masahiro Tanaka helped stabilize a shaky rotation with five splendid innings, but the bats went quiet and Adam Ottavino faltered late as the Yankees absorbed a 1-0 defeat on Friday at Tropicana Field, their third loss in four games.

The clubs matched zeroes until the eighth inning, when Ottavino issued two walks and uncorked a wild pitch that set up a sacrifice fly for pinch-hitter Michael Perez. The Yanks’ streak of 12 consecutive games with a home run, a franchise record to open a season, was snapped as they were shut out on two hits.

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“I don't think it's acceptable,” DJ LeMahieu said. “I think we’re too good of a team for that. But at the same time, I feel like the Rays’ pitchers did a pretty good job.”

Tanaka was excellent and economical in his second start of the season, retiring the final 13 men he faced while permitting one hit over five scoreless innings.

Limited to 59 pitches as he builds stamina following a July 4 concussion, Tanaka struck out five and did not walk a batter. Using his fastball (21), slider (18) and splitter (16) effectively, Tanaka also mixed in four curveballs.

“I think the best part of today was that I had good command,” Tanaka said through a translator. “The slider was definitely better than the last outing. I was really cognizant of executing that slider this game, and it's good to see that I was able to do that.”

With at least 14 innings on deck in Saturday’s doubleheader, Tanaka’s effort was welcome for the Yankees, who have seen their starters complete five innings just five times through 13 games. Three of those efforts were by ace Gerrit Cole, who will start Saturday’s first contest.

“I was hoping for three or four [innings], maybe,” manager Aaron Boone said of Tanaka. “That's as good as you'll see Masa right there; that's when he's great. It was another really good step for him.”

Silent night

Rays starter Blake Snell tossed three spotless innings, and the Yanks did not notch their first hit until LeMahieu singled with one out in the sixth off Pete Fairbanks.

“Snell pitched all right,” LeMahieu said. “Overall, we just didn’t have great at-bats. It’s kind of disappointing.”

The Yanks loaded the bases with three walks in the seventh, including a hard-fought 10-pitch battle by Gio Urshela, but Gary Sánchez swung through a 96 mph Nick Anderson fastball to end the rally. Boone thought Luke Voit just missed a three-run homer on a swing earlier in that inning, and he ultimately flied out to right field.

“Against a Rays team that's really good at preventing runs, you’ve got to try and take advantage of when you do get some traffic out there,” Boone said. “We just couldn't break through tonight.”

Mike Tauchman committed a baserunning blunder in the eighth, making the first out of the inning at third base after a leadoff double. Boone said that Tauchman’s decision to run on LeMahieu’s ground ball to shortstop Willy Adames was “not a terrible read.”

“In the end, he shouldn't have gone, but sometimes you want to be aggressive.” Boone said. “Any time that ball’s a little bit slower hit and to your left, you know the shortstop’s going to have to move and turn his body. Adames made a really good play. It looked a lot simpler than it probably was because he had to get around, get his feet set and throw a strike.”

Second thoughts

Ottavino said that it was “unacceptable” to issue two walks in the eighth, as Yoshi Tsutsugo and Kevin Kiermaier worked free passes, but the right-hander was also irked by his pitch selection in the Perez at-bat. Ottavino said that he shouldn’t have thrown a slider, which Perez lifted to center field for a sacrifice fly.

“I was thinking fastball up and in,” Ottavino said. “[Perez] had just fouled a ball off his foot. There was a little bit of a debate [over] what to throw there, but that was my initial thought. We went back with a slider, and I just threw a lousy one. I regretted that immediately.”

Shake it off

Gleyber Torres had an opportunity to snap his early-season doldrums in the seventh, but the infielder flied out to right field, extending his hitless streak. Torres skied to center field in the ninth for the final out and is hitless in his last 24 at-bats.

“I thought he got some better swings off,” Boone said. “He's been putting the ball in play. He's had a little bit of tough luck, but I thought he slowed it down a little bit and wasn't chasing as much. He laid off some pitches.”

LeMahieu said that the Yankees are usually able to turn the page quickly after tough losses.

“I think we do a really good job of bouncing back when things don't go our way,” LeMahieu said. “I expect us to come out with a lot of energy tomorrow, play good baseball and get back to being ourselves.”