PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Masahiro Tanaka right elbow felt fine. That was the good news.

His performance, however, didn’t scream major league ready.

The Yankees ace, out since April 23 with right forearm soreness and wrist tendinitis, was tagged for three earned runs on four hits while walking two and striking out four in three shaky innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Pawtucket, the Red Sox’ affiliate, in his second rehab start, a 9-6 victory for the Yankees farm club.

“My arm is absolutely fine,” Tanaka said through an interpreter. “It’s just that I was missing some spots today. You always have the good and the bad. You have to fight through the bad times and try to go about your business.”

It’s uncertain where Tanaka will pitch next. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he will sit down with general manager Brian Cashman and other Yankees decision-makers before deciding whether he will return to the Yankees or make another rehab start. Tanaka said he is open to whatever move the team decides is in his best interest.

“We’ve got to see what we feel is the right thing to do,” Girardi said.

Tanaka, 2-1 with a 3.22 ERA in four starts this year for the Yankees, threw 62 pitches — 44 for strikes — and allowed three extra-base hits. He did finish strong, retiring the final four batters he faced. He used all of his pitches, getting all four of his strikeouts on off-speed pitches. His fastball velocity tailed off, after starting in the low 90’s and topping out at 93. It sat mostly in the upper 80’s over the final two innings, dropping to as low as 86 in the final frame twice.

Asked about his lack of velocity in the final inning, Tanaka said: “My fastball is fine.”

Pawtucket center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., who homered and doubled in two at-bats against Tanaka, said he got the sense the right-hander was trying to get his work in rather than worrying about results.

“He looked like a guy who was trying to get strikes, he was trying to fill up the zone and get his pitch count up,” said Bradley, who faced Tanaka four times last year with the Red Sox. “I thought his fastball was right there. He was 89-92 [when I faced him], that’s where his fastball usually is.”

Tanaka got off to a shaky start, loading the bases with no outs in the first, before escaping with just one run allowed. He gave up two more runs in the second, the big blow a Bradley homer in which he turned around an 0-2, 91 mph fastball. He did retire the final four batters he faced, finishing the outing by getting Travis Shaw to chase a slider off the plate.

Tanaka declined to give any definitive answers after the outing — about whether he feels ready to return to the Yankees or if he thinks he can get back to the dominance he displayed in a rookie year that saw him go 13-5 with a 2.77 ERA.

But Tanaka said he is eager to return to The Bronx.

“You always want to get back there and pitch,” Tanaka said. “I’m just trying to do the best I can. At the end of the day, the team is going to make the decision for me to come back to a Major League Baseball mound.”

“You got to look at day-by-day. The important thing for me is I’m [feeling] good tomorrow. We’ll see tomorrow.”

— Additional reporting by Dan Martin