THE RAIN OF KING LUIS!
Sevy weathers delay, goes 7.1 strong
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Luis Severino set fire to the rain.
The 24-year-old Yankees ace shook off a 90-minute rain delay by going 7.1 innings and striking out seven in the Bombers’ 7-2 rout of the Rays at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
“He’s had that look in his eye from the start of spring training that he wants to build on a great season from last year,” Aaron Boone said of Severino improving to 2-0 on the season. “That’s what an ace looks like.”
In a game where Severino cruised through the middle innings, his two blemishes came in the beginning and end of his day.
A one-out double by C.J. Cron drove in Kevin Kiermaier in the first. Seven innings later, Denard Span’s sacrifice fly off Adam Warren allowed Adeiny Hechavarria, Severino’s runner, to score. But in between those two earned runs, Severino was hot.
“I thought initially he was feeling for it (his pitches) and then he just settled into a groove,” Boone said of his ace, whose ERA dropped to a miniscule 1.38 in the win. “He was like a buzzsaw
The Yankees put plenty of their power on display in Wednesday’s 7-2 win over the Rays, but they also got a lift from their little guy.
Ronald Torreyes, all 5-foot-8, 150 pounds of him, proved just how valuable he can be to the Yankees, both on the field and at the plate.
Torreyes immediately made his impact felt in the first inning, taking a hit and possibly an RBI away from catcher Wilson Ramos when he made a diving, over-the-shoulder grab in shallow right field to end the inning.
Severino had already given up a run in the first and had a runner on second when Torreyes came through, which manager Aaron Boone said helped his pitcher settle down the rest of the game.
“We’ve been wanting to get him in there, finally had a chance to get him in there today...he turns in two excellent plays,” Boone said. “One we thought might have been scoring the second run against Sevy early and it kind of killed the momentum.”
Torreyes made a backhanded grab up the middle and a strong throw to put out Rays second baseman Joey Wendle in the second. in the middle innings.”
The sun even made its way through the clouds midway through the afternoon and stuck around for the later innings.
Severino, as he frequently does, relied on his slider throughout the day. While it was the pitch that hurt him early on, once he settled down, it became his go-to.
“In the first inning I left one in the middle and gave up a base hit and a RBI,” Severino said. “After that it was working as my warmup pitch and then I was able to start finishing with it.”
Even with Severino dealing, Boone did think about taking his
“You can’t count Toe out,” said catcher Austin Romine. “He’s going to make plays that others don’t make.”
The diminutive infielder got the job done at the plate, too.
With Tyler Austin on third base with one out in the fourth, the Rays brought the infield in but Torreyes lined a fastball up and away through the middle for an RBI single.
“Definitely in a situation like that when ace out before the eighth inning.
“There was a little bit of a debate about sending him out for the eighth but I wanted to see him walk out there,” Boone said.
Severino gave the Yankees bullpen some much-needed rest by pitching into the eighth, but he also bored his fielders.
“You find something to do out there,” said Giancarlo Stanton, whose first-inning, tape-measure blast gave Severino a lead he wouldn’t relinquish. “You’re not going to get too many hard hit balls.”
There are worse problems for the Yankees to have. you have the infielders in what you want to do is hit the ball up the middle and that’s what I practice all the time,” Torreyes said, via the Yankees team translator.
It may be some time before Torreyes gets another chance in the lineup, but he will be ready when his number is called.
“Although I’m not playing in those games, to me I feel like I’m playing because I’m in every pitch, every at bat,” he said.