ROOK OF LIFE
Severino makes pitch for wild-card start if Tanaka can’t go
Joe Girardi is banking on ace Masahiro Tanaka recovering from a right hamstring problem and pitching the first game of the Yankees’ postseason, which will almost certainly be the AL wild-card game Oct. 6.
But if Tanaka can’t take the ball, Girardi can turn to a neophyte who has impacted the present and possibly will the future.
“I would be happy to,’’ Luis Severino said when asked about the possibility of starting next Tuesday against the Angels, Twins or Astros.
Based on the way Severino has pitched lately, the Yankees would be happy to have him.
Severino pitched them to a 6-1 victory Sunday over the White Sox in front of 38,690 at Yankee Stadium. In six innings, Severino didn’t allow a run, gave up five hits, walked one and whiffed two.
“He used his fastball on both sides of the plate and elevated when he needed to,’’ catcher Brian McCann said of Severino, whose first pitch of the sixth inning to Melky Cabrera was clocked at 96 mph. “He kept them off balance with a changeup. He made big pitches when he had to. He can pitch.’’
When Severino pitches again is a mystery because the Yankees haven’t announced their ro tati o n beyond Monday night, when Ivan Nova opens a four-game series against the Red Sox at the Stadium.
“I think Tanaka is going to be f ine,’’ Girardi said of the right-hander who hasn’t pitched since losing to the Mets, 5-1, on Sept. 18, when he felt something in his leg running out a bunt but remained in the game.
With the Yankees trailing the AL East-leading Blue Jays by four lengths with seven games to go, the Yankees’ first postseason appearance since 2012 will likely be in the wild-card game. It’s highly likely that one-anddone deal will be played in The Bronx barring a brutal week for the Yankees because they hold a 4 1/2- game bulge over the Astros, who are the second wild-card leader. The Yankees’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to three.
In his 10th big league start, Severino continued to put the beating administered by the Blue Jays on Sept. 11 behind him. Since getting mauled for six runs and six hits (two homers) in 2 1/3 innings at home, the 21-year-old Severino has moved on much like a 10-year veteran would.
He is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in three outings since that stinker. Thanks to three conventional double p l ays and a strikeout/throw-out double play Severino worked around hits, his
own throwing error and a walk to keep the White Sox scoreless.
“When I needed a good pitch I made it,’’ said Severino, who is 5-3 with a 2.77 ERA as a big leaguer.
White Sox f irst baseman Jose Abreu gave the Yankees an unearned run when he botched consecutive ground balls by Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltran in the f irst inning. Brian McCann’s sacrifice gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead. That went to 3-0 in the sixth when Dustin Ackley reached the upper deck in right field leading off the inning and Slade Heathcott later raced home on a wild pitch.
An RBI single by Jacoby Ellsbury made it 4-1 in the seventh and two runs in the eighth took Andrew Miller out of a save situation and avoided Girardi having to use his closer on consecutive days.
Asked when he would start again, Severino uttered the company line.
“I am on a one-day schedule,’’ he said. “Hopefully, five days.’’
That would be Friday and if that happens, Tanaka’s right hamstring wil l have been deemed f it enough to try to pitch in the wild-card game.
And if Tanaka can’t start? It wouldn’t shock anybody if Severino gets that assignment.