Luis Severino again hit hard as Yankees lose to Astros
Luis Severino of the Yankees is removed from a game against the Astros during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium on Friday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It’s not that Luis Severino had a bad night. It’s that he’s had a lot of bad nights.
And it’s not that the Yankees lost. It’s that they’ve lost too many games like this — over and over, with little sign of progress.
On Friday, the 41,105 fans hoping for a playoff atmosphere against an old rival were greeted with a listless 7-3 loss to the Astros at Yankee Stadium.
Severino did nothing to stabilize a rotation in disarray and the offense did nothing to capitalize with runners in scoring position, going 0-for-7. Their three runs came on homers by Jake Bauers, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Giancarlo Stanton, but all came after the Astros took a quick 4-0 lead.
Severino, who gave up five runs, five hits (including two home runs) and three walks with four strikeouts, lasted only four innings-plus and saw his ERA shoot up to 7.74.
In his previous start, he allowed six runs before recording his first out, gave up nine earned runs in 3 1⁄3 innings and said after that game, “Right now, I feel like the worst pitcher in the game. No doubt about it.”
He didn’t do much Friday to make anyone feel any differently.
The ramifications are plentiful: The Yankees will be without Domingo German this season after he entered in-patient treatment for alcohol abuse, Nestor Cortes said he figures to be stretched out to only about 60 pitches when he returns from the 60-day injured list Saturday, and Aaron Boone said after the game that the Yankees are considering moving Severino to the bullpen, among other options.
“Everything is on the table,” Boone said.
The result is a rotation whose only stable pieces have been Gerrit Cole (brilliant) and Clarke Schmidt (consistent).
“I’m not going to lie; every time I give up a homer or a run in the first inning, [I think] . . . what am I doing?” Severino said. “I start looking at different stuff. Is this mechanical? Is this tipping?”
Well, it’s something, and it couldn’t come at a worse time for the Yankees, who fell 3 1⁄2 games behind the Blue Jays for the third wild-card spot, or for Severino, who’s set to become a free agent.
Leading off the game, noted first-ball fastball hitter Jose Altuve turned on a first-pitch inside fastball and doubled into the leftfield corner. Two batters later, Kyle Tucker walked and stole second. Yainer Diaz then rocketed a knee-high fastball 377 feet to right-center to give the Astros a 3-0 lead.
Severino has a 13.85 ERA in first innings this year, which is the highest of any pitcher this season with at least 10 starts, according to baseball statistician Katie Sharp.
The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the first, putting two runners on base, but centerfielder Jake Meyers robbed Billy McKinney of an extra-base hit, making a running catch before sliding into the wall of the Astros’ bullpen and preventing two runs from scoring.
The Astros scored one more in the second, and the Yankees could have counted it as a best-case scenario. Severino walked the first two batters and, one out later, Altuve singled to load the bases. Severino then hit Alex Bregman to make it 4-0.
Bauers drilled a 3-and-1 fastball from Hunter Brown 323 feet off the foul side of the leftfield foul pole in the third. Severino gave it back in the fifth when he served up a slider to Yordan Alvarez, who was able to extend his arms and hit it 428 feet into the Astros’ bullpen for his 20th home run.
That ended Severino’s day before he recorded a single out in the fifth — making this the sixth start in which he’s allowed at least five earned runs (out of 13 this year). He is trending the wrong way in a slew of major metrics. His hard-hit percentage and launch angle are all up, his strikeout percentage is down almost 10%, according to Baseball Savant, and his expected batting average rose from .208 last year to .300 this year.
“He’s human,” Boone said. “It’s difficult and it’s no fun when you’re going through that. You’re scuffling — especially when you’ve been as good a pitcher as he’s been . . . He’s working really hard to try and unlock himself.”
The Yankees drew within 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth on Kiner-Falefa’s homer to right-center. Tucker hit a two-run double off Nick Ramirez in the sixth. Stanton hit a 435-foot drive into the leftfield bleachers in the eighth and has 10 homers and 22 RBIs in his last 21 games.
Afterward, a downtrodden Severino said he’ll do whatever he can to help the team — even if it means losing his role. “That’s something that I need to talk to with Aaron,” he said of a move to the bullpen. “As of right now, I’m a starting pitcher. I love having a day for me, but at the end of the day, I’m with the team and whatever they need to do.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
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