Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka has cleared a key hurdle in his rehab program for strained right and left hamstrings, throwing 26 pitches in his first bullpen session.

Tanaka, sidelined since getting hurt June 8 while running the bases in a game, threw before Sunday's game at Tampa Bay.

"I was kind of being a little bit cautious about it," Tanaka said through a translator. "But it turned out that I didn't feel anything."