WILD HORSES
JUDGE, Severino show top form as Yankees galoop toward Boston
THE YANKEES were a quality heavyweight doing enough to win rounds, but not impressively. They were surviving the second half, more than thriving, staying on pace for 100 wins, without ever fully portraying a triple-digit behemoth.
A near-daily dissection was done to pinpoint what was wrong with the patient, and maybe all that was needed was to wait until the first inning of the wild-card game, when Luis Severino and Aaron Judge reminded the baseball universe what the Yankees look like when their best pitcher and hitter are great.
More than anyone else, Severino and Judge had changed the trajectory of the 2017 Yankees from rebuilding to resplendent, emerging as ace of a contender and face of the game.
Thus, more than anyone else, Severino’s Carl Pavano imitation and Judge’s wrist fracture downsized the upside of the second-half Yankees, just as surely as the first inning Wednesday served as an appetizer of what is possible for this 2018 version when that duo’s might makes right.
So much focus went into why Severino was starting and whether the Yankees could handle the A’s “opener” gambit. Then, in the span of 10 Severino pitches and one 116 mph Judge laser, all was better in the Yankee world. They began the wild card with power, and by the conclusion of a 7-2 victory the Yanks felt a little more like a powerhouse again.
“Sevy set the tone,” Aaron Boone said. “He really came out on a mission.”
Boone had placed himself on the secondguess launching pad. J.A. Happ was his safe choice for this win-or-go-home game, the Yankees starter most likely to avoid implosion. But Severino offered the kind of heat that could overwhelm the homer-happy A’s. Plus, if he could pitch well here — exorcise the one-out, three-run wild-card disaster of 12 months earlier against the Twins — then per- haps the righty was setting himself up for a more meaningful October plus saving Happ to open the Division Series against the Red Sox, against whom he has been the rare pitcher in 2018 to perform well.
Severino came out 96, 97 and 99 mph to whiff Nick Martini to open the game and initiate a 10-pitch, nine-fastball buzz saw of dominance.
“After the first inning last year, that first inning was big for me,” Severino said.
The A’s had opted to try to bullpen this whole game, mainly by feeding the Yankees one power righty reliever after another. But Liam Hendriks walked Andrew McCutchen to open the first and tried to beat Judge with a 96 mph 2-1 fastball. Judge had hit just .220 in his half month back from the disabled list, struck out in 15 of 41 at-bats, waited until the final weekend to hit a homer. But here he hit one of those balls that few on earth can. It went 427 feet at 116.1 mph, the top playoff exit velocity since Statscast began its tracking in 2015 — until Giancarlo Stanton went 117.4 in the eighth inning to put a flourish on his playoff debut.
“That was a huge homer by Judge,” Aaron Hicks said. “It got our crowd into it and when our crowd is into it, it is a tough place to play.”
The early lead and the throaty backing of the 49,620 were vital because over the next four innings the Yankees wobbled. In that period, infield corners Miguel Andujar and Luke Voit had three combined throws and one needed scoop and executed none of them, necessitating extra pitches and extra runners for Severino. The A’s assembled one good at-bat after another. It did not produce a hit through four innings, but it did create four walks, plenty of deep counts and Severino throwing 81 pitches. But he rose when necessary, holding Oakland hitless in seven at-bats with men on base, striking out seven.
Despite the exertion by Severino, Boone still asked for the fifth. Severino yielded his first two hits and was removed for Dellin Betances, who authored two brilliant innings of relief.
Judge led off the sixth with an opposite- field ground double, triggering a four-run inning that pretty much guaranteed that the Yankees would send the A’s to their eighth straight win-or-go-home playoff loss (last win Game 7 of the 1973 World Series versus the Mets).
That hearty crowd chanted, “We want Boston,” as jubilation filled the Bronx night. They get Boston. Best-of-five beginning Friday at Fenway. The Yankees have a chance to lose the battle (AL East) and win the baseball war (the playoffs). It becomes more possible if their best pitcher and hitter run wild all October.