Seven straight for Sevy
DETROIT — Aaron Boone’s pitching strategy for the first game of Monday’s doubleheader was simple.
“We sent our ace out there for the first game and counted on him giving us a big performance,” the New York Yankees manager said.
Luis Severino did just that, striking out 10 over eight innings to win his seventh straight decision in a 7-4 victory that extended New York’s winning streak to five games.
“He threw 85 strikes in 112 pitches, which puts his percentage in the high 70s,” Boone said. “That’s how he got through eight innings, which is huge for our bullpen.”
Austin Romine hit a three-run homer, and Gleyber Torres and Greg Bird also homered for the AL Eastleading Yankees, who improved to a big league-best 38-17. New York is 21 games over .500 for just the second time since ending the 2012 season at 95-67; the Yankees were 91-70 last year before losing their regular-season finale.
In the start of a doubleheader that made up rainouts on April 14 and 15, Severino (9-1) allowed two runs — one earned — and four hits while walking none. He is 7-0 in 10 starts since losing at Boston on April 10.
“I’ve been able to execute all of my pitches almost every time out there this season,” Severino said. “Today, it took me a couple innings to get on top of my slider, but everything was good after that.”
Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild was impressed with Severino’s ability to overcome early problems with his slider.
“He’s able to throw his changeup at two different speeds, so even when he doesn’t have a great slider, he still has different offspeed looks for the hitters,” Rothschild said. “He’s throwing some of them at 79 or 80 and others at 88 or 89, which makes it tough on hitters.”