Severino sharp for Yanks
Luis Severino pitched four dominant innings and reached 98.8 mph in his injury-delayed season debut for the Yankees, an 8-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels last night in New York that moved the hosts to the brink of clinching its 21st postseason appearance in 25 years.
A two-time All-Star and the ace of the Yankees staff, Severino got hurt while warming up before his first scheduled spring training appearance March 5.
Severino walked two and struck out four, throwing 47 of 67 pitches for strikes and leaving to an ovation from fans tracking his pitch count.
New York lowered its magic number to one over Cleveland to clinch the Yankees’ 55th postseason appearance — 22 more than any other team. New York’s magic number dropped to two over Tampa Bay to wrap up the Yankees’ 19th AL East title, their first since 2012.
Outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, limited to nine games this season, is due back today or tomorrow after recovering from a knee injury.
However, Dellin Betances’ season appears to be over after just eight pitches. The Yankees said the reliever partially tore the Achilles tendon in his left foot when he hopped on the mound after striking out Brandon Drury, the second and final batter he faced in his season debut Sunday at Toronto.
Indians 7, Tigers 2 — Adam Plutko pitched six effective innings, rookie Oscar Mercado homered and host Cleveland beat Detroit for the 15th straight time this season. Cleveland has won 16-of-17 in the season series.
However, the Indians’ postseason chances were dealt another blow — second baseman Jason Kipnis has a broken right hand.
Kipnis will need surgery on the fractured hamate bone, the same injury that has kept third baseman José Ramírez out of Cleveland’s lineup for weeks. The team said Kipnis will need four to six weeks to recover, which means the earliest he could be back is mid-October.
Blue Jays 8, Orioles 5 — Rookie Cavan Biggio hit for the cycle, and visiting Toronto beat Baltimore.
Biggio homered in the third, singled in the sixth, doubled in the eighth and tripled in the ninth. He drove in four runs and scored three times.
Biggio and his father, Craig, a Hall of Famer with the Houston Astros, are the second father-son duo in major league history to hit for the cycle, joining Daryle and Gary Ward.
National League
Brewers 3, Padres 1 — Mike Moustakas hit his 35th home run of the season, Lorenzo Cain also went deep and host Milwaukee beat San Diego to keep up its playoff push with its 11th win in 12 games.
The Brewers came in one game behind the Chicago Cubs for the NL’s second wild card and three games back of St. Louis in the NL Central.
Phillies 5, Braves 4 — Rhys Hoskins and Jose Pirela each hit two-run home runs during a five-run fourth inning, and visiting Philadelphia held off Atlanta.
Bryce Harper also had a pair of hits for Philadelphia, which announced outfielder Corey Dickerson will not return this season after an injury to his left foot was determined to be a fracture.
Before the game, the Braves recalled catcher John Ryan Murphy from Triple-A Gwinnett and placed infielder Charlie Culberson on the 60-day injured list.
Interleague
Mariners 6, Pirates 0 — Marco Gonzales allowed six hits in seven innings, Austin Nola and Omar Narvaez hit back-to-back home runs and visiting Seattle beat Pittsburgh after Pirates All-Star closer Felipe Vázquez was arrested on multiple felony charges earlier in the day.
Vázquez was charged with statutory sexual assault, soliciting a child and pornography, and placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball.
Elsewhere in baseball — The Minnesota Twins set another major league home run record, becoming the first team in history to have five players go deep 30 or more times in one season.
Miguel Sanó gave the Twins the all-time mark with his 30th homer, a three-run shot to the third deck in left field off Chicago White Sox lefthander Ross Detwiler in Mineapolis. Nelson Cruz (37), Max Kepler (36), Eddie Rosario (31) and Mitch Garver (30) all made it before Sanó.