Sevy ‘good enough’ to claim his 11th victory

Luis Severino has raised expectations for himself so high that when he pitches a game like he did Thursday — allowing three runs over 5 2/3 innings — it’s viewed as an off day.

But the Yankees found beauty in their ace’s struggle as Severino gutted through feeling uncomfortable to still pitch well enough for a 4-3 win over the Mariners at Yankee Stadium.

“You come to expect him to go out and dominate time and time again,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s cool when he has a little bump in the road like today, it’s still good enough to get us through the middle innings and leave [the bullpen] with a lead. I think it’s a tribute to just how good a pitcher he’s become, when he doesn’t have his good command and he’s still able to go out there and get a win.”

Coming off eight shutout innings against the Rays on Saturday, Severino lacked his usual command against a strong Mariners lineup. He matched a season-high in giving up eight hits and a seasonlow in striking out just five. He walked one, hit one batter and racked up 107 pitches before he was pulled with two on and two out in the sixth.

The bullpen had his back, though, as David Robertson stranded both runners and helped secure Severino’s 11th win in 16 starts.

“Sevy’s special,” catcher Austin Romine said. “Like today, it was a battle for him. He had to grind it out. He’s not grinding too many of those starts out. He’s usually pretty electric. But he’s not a machine; he’s a human being.”

Severino’s only clean inning came in a 13-pitch first, but he walked the leadoff batter in the second and then left a changeup over the plate to Kyle Seager, who made him pay with a two-run homer.

While he still showed flashes of his dominant self — like painting the corner with a 99 mph fastball to strike out Denard Span on a full count to end the third inning — Sev- erino had to settle for his version of mediocre, which was still good enough to win.

“I just wasn’t feeling like myself,” Severino said. “Every time they give me the ball, I want to go over there and have a good game. Today wasn’t the best. I wasn’t feeling that good — not good, like comfortable. I was missing some pitches and getting deep in counts. But we got a great team, get some runs and the bullpen was great today too.”