Tanaka wants to make one final start

NEW YORK — Masahiro Tanaka says that he wants to make his final start of the regular season, tentatively scheduled for Saturday against the Orioles, even if the Yankees have been eliminated from postseason contention by then.

Tanaka, who had a start skipped on Monday due to a small flexor mass strain in his right forearm, played catch on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. Tanaka made 25 tosses at a distance of 60 feet and said that he is planning to take the ball for one more turn in the rotation.

“Regardless of the situation that we’re in, I’d like to go out and pitch,” Tanaka said.

Tanaka complained of some tightness following his last start, during which he served up a career-high four home runs in an 11-5 victory over the Rays. Even so, Tanaka felt that he could have pitched on Monday in Toronto, something that he relayed to Dr. Christopher Ahmad, the Yankees’ head team physician.

“Our biggest focus will be having a healthy Tanaka,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “He’s reacted well to obviously pushing him back, and what we do next — depending on how he feels and the doctor’s recommendation and the trainers — the biggest thing is making sure that he’s healthy. It looks like that’s going in …

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