Yankees Streak Snapped, But Severino Keeps The Line Moving

The Yankees ran into a buzz saw last night, proving once again that good pitching will beat good hitting, as the White Sox trimmed the sails of the Bombers by a score of 4-1 at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees saw their winning streak come to an end last night as the White Sox took the middle game of the three-game set at Yankee Stadium by a 4-1 margin. But the feeling from here is almost like, who cares?

And that’s because Luis Severino (1-1) kept the line moving among the starting staff by turning in his second consecutive effort of the young season. Severino became the first Yankees pitcher to complete the eighth inning of a game while taking a tough loss that saw the team’s lineup manage only four hits.

Seventy percent of Severino’s pitches were for strikes (107-69), but more importantly, he surrendered no walks serving to help put to rest what had once been his bane. He also picked up ten more strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 4.05 for the season. Only three of the four runs he gave up were earned.

As it turned out, Severino’s only problem in the game was getting anyone named Garcia out as he surrendered home runs to White Sox DH, Avisail Garcia, who’s been crushing the ball of late, and center fielder Leury Garcia, who cracked his first home run of the season. Together, the pair accounted for all of the Sox four runs.

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The Yankees offense, untypically, ran into a buzz saw as they managed to send only 29 hitters to the plate against Miguel Gonzalez (2-0 2.84), who turned in a masterful performance himself competing with the hottest team in baseball.

As expected, Joe Girardi gave his third baseman the night off, but otherwise ran his Opening Day lineup out there, minus, of course, Gary Sanchez. Chase Headley did make an appearance as a pinch-hitter and promptly collected one of the Yankees four hits.

It would be fair to say that the Yankees were due to run into a pitcher like Gonzalez somewhere along the line, and last night proved to be that game where they simply, though narrowly minus the two mistakes by Severino, were out-pitched. It happens.

Video Courtesy of the YES Network

Turning The Page

Nevertheless, the team wants to avoid any spread of the disease, and they will send Masahiro Tanaka (1-1) to the mound tonight to help win the rubber game of the series with the White Sox. Tanaka, in all likelihood, still gets a rub when he sees his gaudy 8.36 ERA posted on the scoreboard and needs to give the Yankees his second consecutive quality start to keep the line moving.

Tanaka will be opposed by Dylan Covey, who made his major league debut against the Twins last week, pitching effectively into the sixth inning.

The news is not so good for the Yankees this morning on another front as a report from Kyle Franko of The Trentonian says that Gleyber Torres was removed from a game with some as yet undiagnosed shoulder injury. Trenton Thunder manager, Bobby Mitchell told Franco:

"“I’m not sure exactly how it came about,” Mitchell said, according to the report. “I know when I was a player sometimes when you had a sore arm, it would effect your swing, too, because your strength is zapped.”“Hopefully, it’s just a tired arm and that’s it,” Mitchell also said, according to the report. “When the doctor comes in and sees him, we’ll know more about what his status is for the future.”"

The injury to Torres came on the same day as James Kaprielian was scheduled to have season-ending surgery that will largely determine his future with the Yankees.

In other the cup is half-full injury news, Joe Girardi told NJ.Com that Didi Gregorius would begin his rehab games in Tampa because, “the weather is warmer,” adding:

"“I think you can think about Didi because realistically he should be here quicker than Gary,” Girardi said. “He’s ahead of him. But you still have 10 days or so to go probably before you get Didi back, so you don’t want to look too far ahead.”"

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In the same report, NJ.Com asked Gary Sanchez when he expects to be back, and he offhandedly told them,  “Maybe. Maybe two. Maybe one. (week)”. Not so fast, Gary. The Yankees know better.