Yanks Sit Judge. Severino RIPPED. Baltimore 9 NY 3

July 31, 2023 paperbacklou 2023 0

The Baltimore Orioles jumped all over Luis Severino in the 1st inning — the balls hit so hard they might have caused whip-lash to some Yankee fans watching at Camden Yards or on TV at home. A 7-run shellacking where at times it looked like Severino would never get an out.

It was 6-0 before Severino got an out. He finally got 3 outs, and after that settled down to pitch a shutout 2nd and 3rd inning, before getting Ripped some more in the 4th and leaving down 9-2.

On a Sunday night in Baltimore.

The good news was that the game wasn’t that important — according to Yankee management which sat Aaron Judge because they wanted to give his big toe a day off.

This was first-place Baltimore. And Judge had just been 3 for 4 with a homer against them the game before, and walked 3 times the night before that — his first game back from a 2-month stay on the IL. And Judge destroys Camden Yards and the Baltimore starting pitcher — Dean Kremer. Judge is 4-10 with 3 home runs lifetime against Kremer. And Judge said he felt great after the prior game. And he’s rested for 2 months now.

The Yankee management is nominally their manager, Aaron Boone, but there is a “we” to it. When interviewed during the game, nationally broadcast on ESPN, and asked why NY sat Judge, Boone answered with the royal “we” — “we felt that…” etc.

That “we” is the analytics team and many Yankee fans have surmised for some time — years — that Boone doesn’t make final decisions.

“Execution, location.” said Boone afterwards about Severino’s main issues. “Missed in the heart of the plate. Hung a slider. Missed location with some fastballs. Settled in second time through, but obviously that’s a rough 1st inning.”

NY drops to 55-50, 9 games back of Baltimore (now 64-41), 7.5 behind Tampa, 3.5 behind Toronto, and 1 behind Boston.

ESPN broadcast the game, and the Yankees and YES network twitter accounts did not provide any highlights.

1. Severino RIPPED

The bottom of the 1st started like this:

  • Adley Rutschman ripped the first pitch — a 96-MPH fastball — to right for a single.
  • Gunnar Henderson chopped the 3rd pitch to him — a 93-MPH cutter — through the infield to right for a single.
  • Anthony Santander Ripped the 5th pitch to him — an 83-MPH slider — to right for a double and 1-0 Baltimore lead.

  • Ryan O’Hearn ripped the 2nd pitch to him — a 96-MPH fastball — to left for a 2-RBI double. Baltimore 3 NY 0.

  • Austin Hays walked on 5 pitches.
  • Adam Frazier Ripped a first-pitch, 95-MPH fastball for a homer to right — Baltimore 6 NY 0.

Finally Severino got an out — striking out Ramon Urias. But then an infield single by 2nd baseman Jordan Westburg put another runner on; he stole 2nd as Severino struck out catcher James McCann, and scored when Adley Rutschman Ripped a single to center. Baltimore 7 NY 0.

Severino struck out Gunnar Henderson to end the inning. Bronx cheers rang down from the many Yankee fans at Camden Yards.

2. Yanks Were a Hit Away from Climbing Back In

The Yankees had no trouble hitting Dean Kremer — who came in with a 10-4 4.59 record. On another night with a different starter for the Yankees, this might have been a win.

After 2 outs in the top of the 2nd, a single by Harrison Bader, walk by Greg Allen, and walk by Anthony Volpe loaded the bases — but Kyle Higashioka swung at a 3-1 cutter and grounded out.

Severino did the offense a favor by pitching a quick, 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 2nd putting Kremer right back on the mound for the top of the 3rd. Jake Bauers led off with a homer, and Gleyber Torres hit a shot that bounced off the top of the wall in left center for a double. It had to be reviewed to see if it was not a homer.

But with Gleyber on 2nd, Kremer reared back and struck out Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

The Yanks got more on Kremer in the 4th — Bader led off with a single, went to 2nd on a 2-out single by Higashioka, and scored on a double by Bauers.

With 2nd and 3rd, 2 outs, and the Yanks now down 7-2 — NY was a hit away from being in the game again — and causing the fickle finger of blame to point right back at Aaron Boone and Yankee Management for not playing Judge.

But Gleyber Torres grounded out to 1st.

3. Severino RIPPED Some More in 4th

And then just when it looked like Severino had settled down and was going to give the Yanks a chance to climb back in it — he tossed all hope to the wind in the 4th. A leadoff walk to Rutschman, RBI double by Gunnar Henderson, and 1-out RBI single by O’Hearn and it was 9-2 and Severino was Yanked.

“He’s coming off the two good ones, and we have to continue to look under the hood and see why that high level of execution isn’t there,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards when asked if Severino would remain in the starting rotation. “Right now we’re going to continue to focus and work on that.”

“Right now I feel like the worst pitcher in the game,” said Severino afterwards. “I know the kind of pitcher I am. I know I can go out there and have good outings. But right now nothing that I do is working. I won’t stop working — I will continue to work and figure out what’s going on. But right now I feel like I’m not able to contribute to this team.”

4. Kremer Doesn’t Get the Win!

The Yanks had been knocking on Kremer’s door all night and when Giancarlo Stanton led off the 5th with a single, Kremer was yanked at 90 pitches — thereby ending his chance to get a win in a 9-2 game.

Kremer has gone over 100 pitches several times this year so this looked like a ‘manager no confidence’ situation.

5. Yankees Struck out 18 Times

The Yankees got 9 hits and 3 walks — but struck out 18 times.

Anthony Rizzo went 0-5 with 5 strikeouts.

Kremer struck out 7, then Shintaro Fujinami struck out 4 in 2 innings, and Danny Coulombe and Yennier Cano struck out the side in the 8th and 9th.

6. Marinaccio a Silver Lining

A silver lining for the Yanks was that Ron Marinaccio — who has been Ripped himself lately — pitching 2.2 innings of shutout ball. He came in for Severino in the 4th and pitched through the 6th.

7. Abreu Good Too

Albert Abreu cleaned up for the Yanks with 2 shutout innings. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th, and got out of a bases-loaded, 2 outs situation in the 8th by striking out Ryan O’Hearn.

Yennier Cano cleaned up for the Orioles, striking out the side in the 9th for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401472601

 

 

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