Severino dominant again as Yankees roll past Baltimore
When you have Luis Severino on the mound, it’s easy to look like a playoff team, and Severino lived up to his ace billing in the Yankees’ 8-2 win over the Orioles on Friday night. YANKEES 8 ORIOLES 2
The right-hander held Baltimore to two runs over eight innings, striking out seven, as the Yankees won for the sixth time in seven games and 10th in their past 13.
Didi Gregorius hit a go-ahead homer and drove in four runs, helping push the Yankees 15 games over .500 (81-66), matching their seasonhigh.
However, the Yankees remained three games behind the Red Sox in the AL East as Boston beat the Rays, 13-6, in 15 innings Friday.
Before the game, Joe Girardi was asked whether he looked ahead to possible bullpen needs of future games when determining who to use that day.
“I think we’re in a spot now where if you have a chance to win today, you have to win today,” the manager said.
Severino took the decision out of Girardi’s hands. His lone mistake came when he gave up a two-out, two-run homer on an 0-2 pitch to Welington Castillo in the top of the second that gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead.
The right-hander wound up retiring 19 of the final 21 batters he faced, looking more and more like a pitcher the Yankees would turn to either in a wild-card game or Game 1 of a playoff series.
“That would be an honor for me,” Severino said. “I’m ready if they need me.”
They most likely will at some point.
“You look at teams in the past that have won, they’ve had true aces,” Girardi said after the win. “Last year in the World Series, you had true aces on the mound that had really big years on the mound for their teams.”
After Severino’s misstep against Castillo, the Yankees tied the score in the bottom of the inning before Gregorius put them up for good with a two-run shot in the fifth that made it 4-2.
Severino was coming off an outing in Texas in which he gave up just one run — on one hit — in a victory. He entered Friday’s game having allowed one earned run or fewer in all but two of his 11 second-half starts.
He couldn’t quite match that effectiveness Friday, but he came pretty close, still hitting 100 mph in the eighth inning.
Girardi said before the game he believes the right-hander will be allowed to stay on a regular rotation in the playoffs.
First, though, the Yankees have to get there.
“We still got a lot of work to do,” Girardi said. “We’ll focus on that and not what might be.”
More games against the Orioles should help. The offense pummeled Baltimore pitching again, putting up eight runs after scoring 13 on Thursday.
Brett Gardner opened the bottom of the first with a double to left-center and scored on a Gregorius sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
With runners on first and second and one out in the second, Greg Bird hit a routine grounder to first, but Davis let it go into right, allowing Chase Headley to score from second.
Former Met Gabriel Ynoa left after just 4 ¹/3 innings and 64 pitches. He walked Aaron Judge before being pulled and Gregorius hit a two-out, two-run homer off Miguel Castro to put the Yankees up 4-2.
The Yankees added three runs in the seventh, as Gary Sanchez blooped a single to right with the bases loaded, Gregorius hit another sacrifice fly and Headley had an RBI single to provide more insurance — in part due to another Baltimore error.
Severino didn’t need the extra runs.
“He’s turned himself into an ace,” Headley said. “The stuff is there, but the consistency is what sets those guys apart and he’s become that kind of guy.”