Severino Knocked Down Again. Houston 7 NY 3

August 5, 2023 paperbacklou 2023 0

At the end of his last start, Luis Severino said he felt like the worst pitcher in the game. He pitched like it again in this start — coughing up a 3-run bomb in the 1st, another run in the 2nd with bases loaded, and a bomb leading off the 5th — 5 runs in 4 innings.

Severino, booed loudly after being yanked in the 5th, sat down at the very end of the Yankees dugout alone. After a couple of players and coaches went over to pick him up, Severino continued to sit in the corner, not moving a muscle.

But actually, Severino pitched better than his previous start — showing promise with shutout innings in the 3rd and 4th.

And it may not have mattered — as the Yankees only scored 3 runs against Hunter Brown and the Astro bullpen — solo homers by Jake Bauers, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Giancarlo Stanton. Three runs is not enough to win on most nights.

NY was denied 2 runs in the 1st on a spectacular catch by Astro centerfielder Jake Meyers; a game changer.

The Yankee analytics team and Aaron Boone opted to sit Aaron Judge to rest his big toe again.

“The (Yandy) Diaz homerun,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards. “A pitch away from getting out of it, hopefully he can build on it. I thought he got into a little rhythm after that with his cutter and his change up. But again, the walks, hit batter — that moreso did him in than anything. Just another grind out there.”

NY falls to 57-53, 11 back of Baltimore, 9 back of Tampa, 3.5 behind Toronto, and .5 behind Boston. Houston improves to 63-48, 1.5 behind Texas.

1. Severino Tried to Do a Tyson Fury

Severino coughed up a game-leadoff double by Jose Altuve but then struck out Alex Bregman and got Yordon Alvarez to ground out — he was an out away from getting out of the first.

But he walked Kyle Tucker and Yandy Diaz hit a 2-1 fastball for a homer to right center and it was 3-0 Astros.

Severino got into more trouble in the 2nd: he walked the first 2 batters, struck out Meyers, and allowed a single to Jose Altuve to load the bases before hitting Alex Bregman with a pitch to force in a run. Houston 4 NY 0, bases loaded 1 out.

Severino looked like Rocky in the first fight against Clubber Lang (Mr T) in Rocky II.

But then Severino looked like he might pull a Tyson Fury in his first fight against Deontay Wilder — he miraculously got up from the canvas after the knockdown, striking out Jordan Alvarez and getting Kyle Tucker to fly out to end the inning.

Severino then pitched a 1-2-3 3rd inning, and a shutout 4th.

But in the 5th, Yordon Alvarez led off with a homer and Severino was knocked out.

All in all — there was progress. And Severino felt it too.

“Every time I give up a homer in the 1st inning, I say to myself, ‘Jesus Christ, what am I doing'”, said Severino afterwards. “And I start looking for different stuff. But this is a really good lineup — if you make a mistake you’re going to pay for it.” Severino said his confidence “is getting better. I’m gaining confidence in my pitches. Like I said before this is a really tough lineup. In the first inning, 3 run homer — you can’t do nothing about that. I have to keep working, keep trying to find ways to get hitters out.”

2. Meyers Catch Kills Yank Comeback

Hunter Brown came in with a 7-7 4.12 record — which screams .500 — and the Yanks jumped all over him in the bottom of the 1st.

Jake Bauers lined a 1-out single, Gleyber Torres followed with a single to center, and with 2 outs, Billy McKinney hit a shot to center that had 2-RBI double written all over it but Jake Meyers made a spectacular catch to end the inning.

3. Brown Shuts Down Yanks

After that, Brown stifled the Yanks; he ended up with 6 innings of 5 hit ball.

Brown used a 96-MPH four-seam fastball and lots of 90-MPH sliders to subdue NY. “Brown was efficient with the lead,” said Boone afterwards. He was really attacking the strike zone. I thought he did a good job with his secondary; he was behind in some counts and was able to get back in it with his slider, and obviously used the curveball and fastball as well. But a good play by Meyers a little bit of a game changer there in the 1st.”

3. Bauers Homer

In the 3rd, he caught too much of the plate with a 3-1 fastball and Jake Bauers yanked it over the shortest part of the short porch — 322-feet down the line for a 4-1 game.

4. IKF Homer

Hunter Brown made another mistake in the bottom of the 5th, hanging a 2-2 slider to Isiah Kiner-Falefa who ripped it 373 feet to right center for a 5-2 game.

5. Abreu & Ramirez Dig Deeper Hole

Albert Abreu relieved Severino and pitched a shutout 5th but got into trouble in the 6th — walking 2 batters and leaving with 1st and 2nd, 2 outs.

Nick Ramirez came in and went 1-2 on Jordan Alvarez before walking him, then yielding a 2-out 2-RBI double to Kyle Tucker to make it 7-2 and seemingly the ballgame.

After that Ramirez pitched a shutout 7th and 8th so his final line looked great — 2.2 innings of shutout ball.

6. Giancarlo Missile

Giancarlo Stanton hit a 435-foot Missile to left off Rafael Montero in the 8th to make it a 7-3 game.

7. Middleton Makes 1st Yank Appearance

Keynan Middleton made his first appearance for the Yankees after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox just before the trade deadline to bolster their middle relief (and send Ron Marinaccio packing).

Middleton pitched a 1-2-3 inning — getting a groundout, strikeout, strikeout.

The Yankees put two runners on in the 9th against Ryan Pressley, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401472663

 

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