Severino conquers O’s, Machado
BALTIMORE — Luis Severino already has experienced highs and lows in his brief major league career.
The right-hander was a rookie sensation in 2015, and a colossal failure as a starter for the first six weeks of last season before reemerging as an important member of the bullpen later in the year.
Now Severino is looking to fulfill what the Yankees hope is his potential in the rotation.
He delivered his second straight excellent outing in an 8-3 win over the Orioles on Tuesday night at Camden Yards, allowing just one run in 6 ¹ /3 innings.
That performance came on the heels of perhaps his best start, when he tossed eight shutout innings in a 3-0 victory over the Royals in The Bronx last week.
Another indication of Severino’s development came in the form of the middle of the Orioles’ lineup.
In a dozen prior plate appearances against Severino, Manny Machado was 4-for-11 with three homers, a walk and six strikeouts. Behind Machado in the cleanup spot was Mark Trumbo, who had been 4for-8 with a pair of homers versus the righthander.
On Tuesday, Machado — in the midst of a disappointing season — struck out in all three at-bats ver- sus Severino and Trumbo went 0-for-2 before drawing a walk in the sixth.
“He got ahead all night,” Trumbo said. “His fastball and slider were tough and he was able to mix in his changeup, too. … When he can get those two really good pitches over and then throw in that change, it makes it tough as a hitter to pick and choose what to look for.”
Severino wasn’t able to do that with any consistency last season.
“When I missed my spot with the fastball last year, it made it hard to pitch well,” said Severino, who saw a 17 2/3 scoreless streak snapped in the sixth thanks to the walk to Trumbo and three infield hits that led to a run.
“His slider had good late break,” Trumbo said. “You’ve really got to focus on each pitch. When he’s on like that, it’s tough to know what to look for.”
In all, Severino fanned eight batters, walked just one and permitted seven hits.
Of his 100 pitches, 73 were strikes. The outing also marked Severino’s fourth straight start without allowing a homer after permitting seven in his first six outings of the season. And the Yankees have won four of his past five starts.
“Last year was tough for me,” Severino said. “I just want to give us a chance to win.”