Masahiro Tanaka finally has a winning Opening Day for Yankees

Masahiro Tanaka had done all this three times before: waited in the bullpen while the giant American flag was unfurled, trotted out to the mound after long baseline introductions and officially ushered in a baseball season for the Yankees.

It hadn’t always gone that well.

But with Luis Severino on the injured list and Opening Day upon us, Tanaka took the opportunity to show that something very significant had changed. Long gone was the pitcher who struggled amid the pomp and grandeur. In his stead was a man making baseball history look easy.

On Thursday, he officially made the most Opening Day starts of any Japanese-born pitcher and earned his first Opening Day win in four tries, as he set aside (an uninspiring) Orioles lineup in a 7-2 victory at Yankee Stadium.

“I think yeah, obviously the three previous Opening Day starts did help me, but for me, I think the biggest thing was going through the 2017 season [when the Yankees made it to the ALCS],” he said through an interpreter. “It was really an up-and-down season for me and we were able to experience going deep into the playoffs and being just able to pitch in the playoffs as well. I think more so than anything, that experience helped me become a better pitcher and be able to go out there and do what I did today.”

Tanaka allowed two runs (one earned) and six hits in 5 2⁄3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter, struck out five and made a nifty grab on a slow grounder by Cedric Mullins to end the third.

Tanaka eclipsed the 800- strikeout mark— he’s up to 803 — and already had the Yankees’ record for most strikeouts by a pitcher through his first five seasons. He joined Hideo Nomo, Yu Darvish and Hiroki Kuroda as the only Japanese-born pitchers to hit the 800 mark.

“I thought Masa really commanded his emotions really well, kind of controlled the moment,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought his stuff was crisp and he commanded the ball, fielded his position really well. Especially one of his first plays there was a little bit of a tricky play and he handled it really well. He does those little things so well — controlling the running game, fielding his position — but a good start for him.”

That hasn’t always been the case. Entering Thursday, Tanaka was 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA in three Opening Day starts, all games the Yankees lost. On Opening Day in 2017, he allowed seven earned runs and eight hits in 2 2⁄3 innings.

He credited the Yankees’ big bats with some of his dominance on Thursday. “I think it comes down to one thing. I think it was our offense, just scoring some runs for us,” he said. “That was a big boost. That would probably be the reason [for his efficiency].

“In our lineup, there’s no single easy out. You really have to work as [an opposing] pitcher. So I think pitchers need to be really careful when going through our lineup.”

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.