Sevy almost burned by tech issue
Luis Severino almost was caught fiddling with his PitchCom earpiece Thursday night, but he recovered in time to throw out Kyle Tucker attempting to steal home to end the third inning of the Yankees’ game in Houston.
Severino issued two walks and was reached for a two-run double by Alex Bregman with the bases loaded for the only two runs he allowed in a 2-1 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park.
The righty hadn’t called timeout while removing his cap to adjust his PitchCom setup, which allows catchers to communicate pitch-selection signals to pitchers. Severino noticed Tucker breaking for home, and he threw out the runner with an assist to catcher Jose Trevino blocking the plate with his shin guard on the headfirst slide.
“I saw him when he was halfway, but nobody’s faster than the ball,” Severino said after the game. “I was happy. He was trying to get a base there. I was a little worried when he was halfway, I got no chance he’d be safe.
“But good for me. I’m very good with my hands. I think I had the ball in the other hand, but I was able to grab it and throw it.”
Severino had further issues with the PitchCom technology in the fourth inning, switching earpieces with second baseman Gleyber Torres.
Those two runs turned out to be all Severino would allow on three hits over six innings (87 pitches).
Following the play at the plate, Severino retired nine straight batters over the next three innings to keep the score close. Ron Marinaccio replaced him to start the seventh with the Yanks trailing 2-1 after Anthony Rizzo got them on the board with a solo homer in the sixth.
“I thought Sevy pitched really well and finished very strong with really good life on his fastball. I thought he threw the ball well tonight,” Aaron Boone said, adding that his pitcher “didn’t panic” and “reacted the right way” to make the play on Tucker at the plate.
“He was out, so he didn’t take advantage. It got us out of the rally,” Boone said of Tucker’s decision. “I think [Severino] showed he had the situation under control. You definitely can call ‘timeout’ to get things set up, but I think Sevy was in command of the situation.”