Severino loses control in fifth
HOUSTON — Luis Severino didn’t show any signs of discomfort after four innings on Friday night, like he appeared to do in his previous start. Maybe he should have. The right-hander was brilliant through four innings in Game 6 of the ALCS, but fell apart in a hurry in the fifth in the Astros’ 7-1 win over the Yankees to force a Game 7 on Saturday night. He allowed only a oneout walk to Yuli Gurriel in the second through three innings and then a two-out single by Carlos Correa in the fourth, matching Houston’s Justin Verlander pitch for pitch. The battle ended an inning later, after Severino had surrendered three runs in just 4 2/3 innings — and matching a season-high with four walks. The trouble began when Severino walked Alex Bregman to lead off the inning. He got Marwin Gonzalez to ground out and Bregman moved to second. A fourpitch walk to Evan Gattis followed before Severino got ahead of Brian McCann 0-2. But McCann stayed alive and hit an RBI ground rule double to right to give Houston the lead. Another four-pitch walk to George Springer led to a visit from pitching coach Larry Rothschild, and after getting Josh Reddick to fly to shallow center, Severino was close to escaping having allowed just one run. But Jose Altuve ripped a two-run single to left to make it 3-0 and Severino’s outing was over. “I have no idea [what happened],” Severino said. “After the first batter [of the inning], everything happened so fast. I didn’t know what happened.” Severino had insisted he felt good following his Game 2 appearance against Houston, when Joe Girardi removed him after four innings, due in part to the way Severino was winding his arm while on the mound during the fourth.
Severino showed no signs of discomfort on Friday, topping 100 mph on a strikeout of Springer to end the third and generally overwhelming the Houston lineup.
“He just lost his command,” Girardi said. “He pitched up fairly effectively tonight, but he just kind of lost it up even a little bit more. … You know, it happens. And they took advantage of it.”
Before the game, Girardi said “there [are] really no limitations on [Severino.’’
The manager, though, also pointed out Severino is in uncharted waters, both in pitching this late in the postseason and throwing more innings than he ever has before.
“He is in a new territory,” Girardi said. “You are going to be maybe a little bit more cautious, in a sense, and that’s what caused me to take him out of the last game. But he had no ill effects the next day, he was fine.”
The Yankees had hoped the abbreviated nature of his last outing might pay dividends on Friday, but that was not the case.