No more trade-deadline help for Yankees, but Masahiro Tanaka pitching like ace | Rapid reaction

Yankees beat the Orioles 6-3 on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium behind another strong outing from righty Masahiro Tanaka.

NEW YORK — The trade deadline came and went Tuesday afternoon with the Yankees doing nothing more to better themselves for a run at catching and passing the Red Sox.

They didn’t get a bat to help out until Aaron Judge comes off the DL in two or three weeks and they didn’t get a second ace because the Giants didn’t make Madison Bumgarner available and the Mets opted to keep Jacob deGrom.

What stopped Yankees from adding bat

No matter, rookie manager Aaron Boone talked up boss Brian Cashman’s recent moves big time, the semi-big-splash acquisitions that brought in starter J.A. Happ and reliever Zach Britton last week and starter-turning-reliever Lance Lynn on Monday night.

And so this revamped Yankees ballclub went back to work following Monday’s day off, and aside from one bad inning, they looked good besting the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Sure, the Yanks can’t overly excited about getting the better of a 43-under-500 Orioles ballclub, which got worse just before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline when it traded finished off a fire sale by dealing second baseman Jonathan Schoop to the Milwaukee Brewers. But, as most Yankees fans know, their club has struggled at times against the weakest club this season, so taking the opener of this two-game set was a taking-care-of-business evening that included a reward:

The Red Sox lost at home to the Phillies, so their lead of the Yankees in the AL East dropped from six games to five.

What the Yankees had to like most about this was seeing Masahiro Tanaka put up six more scoreless innings six days in his first starter since pitching a three-hit, complete-game shutout last Wednesday at Tampa Bay.

This one started with Tanaka needing 31 pitches to get through a long top of the first and included off-and-on command issues, but the veteran righty gutted his way out of his troublespots allowing no damage in stretching his scoreless-inning streak to 17 1/3 innings, improving his record to an impressive 9-2 and lowering his ERA to a not-too-shabby 3.84.

Tanaka’s shutout streak is a third-inning shy of his career-best 17 2/3-inning streak in August 2016. Also, his seven consecutive wins ties a career high.

Facing rookie right-hander Yefry Ramirez, a former Yankees farmhand, the Yanks grabbed a quick 1-0 lead on a two-out single by Gleyber Torres in the first and they were leading 2-0 when pouring it on with a four-run fourth that was capped by Miguel Andujar’s three-run homer, No. 13 for the season and his first in 25 games since June 29.

Down 6-0, the Orioles showed some fight scoring three in the eighth off reliever A.J. Cole, but Dellin Betances put out the fire, then Aroldis Chapman worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 29th save as the Yankees held on to win their third in a row.

The Yanks are hoping to keep playing good baseball until they get whole, and they’ll take one step toward that on Wednesday when Lynn reports.

Meantime, the Yanks are hoping for good medical news on Happ, who was sent home on Tuesday a mild case of coxsackievirus, which is a hand, foot and throat disease.

Later, Judge is due back in mid-to-late August and catcher Gary Sanchez should be off the DL by late August or early September. By then, the Yanks hope to be within striking range of the Red Sox.

“I feel Cash and the front office went out and got us some significant pieces to what we hope kind of finish off our club and put us in a position to finish off what’s been the start of a really good season for us,” Boone said. “We’re through the deadline line and really excited going forward with this club and the opportunity we have in front of us now.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Wednesday: Baltimore Orioles at Yankees, 1:05 p.m., YES. RHP Alex Cobb (2-14, 6.08) vs. RHP Sonny Gray (6-4, 3.53).

Thursday: Yankees at Boston Red Sox, 7:10 p.m., YES. LHP CC Sabathia (6-4, 3.53) vs. LHP Brian Johnson (1-3, 3.45).

Friday: Yankees at Boston Red Sox, 7:10 p.m., WPIX. RHP Luis Severino (14-4, 2.94) vs. RHP Rick Porcello (13-4, 4.03).

Saturday: Yankees at Boston Red Sox, 4:05 p.m., FSI/YES. LHP J.A. Happ (11-6, 4.05) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-4, 3.80).

Sunday: Yankees at Boston Red Sox, 8:05 p.m., ESPN. RHP Masahiro Tanaka (9-2, 3.84) vs. (11-6, 3.97).

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.