New York Yankees Recap: Severino Rocked, Injured in Loss

Severino got knocked around early and left injured, regressing badly in a blowout 7-1 loss on Friday night.

This one was over very early for Luis Severino and the Yankees. The Bombers were coming off of a big four-game-series win against the defending champion Royals, and spirits were riding high. Unfortunately, a bad first couple of innings brought those spirits crashing down quickly.

Severino put two men on in the first, but got out of it with no runs in, but he wasn’t so lucky in the second… or the third. In the second, Brett Lawrie led off with a double and scored on a one-out-double by Alex Avila. A walk and a single loaded the bases before Severino recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning. It looked like he might get out of the jam, but Jose Abreu singled in two.

Severino got the first two outs in the third, but things fell completely apart with two outs again. Avila singled and Austin Jackson walked, and Severino broke again, allowing a two-run-double to Adam Eaton and another crushing two-out hit, this one a two-run homer to the ageless Jimmy Rollins. At that point, Joe Girardi stepped out of the dugout, not to remove Severino (although let’s face it, he probably should and would have), but to have trainer Steve Donohue check him out. A few moments later, our stomachs sank when Donohue walked Severino off the mound, apparently with an elbow injury of some kind. Yikes. Luis’ final line? 2.2 innings, 7 hits, 4 walks and 7 runs. Yowsa. Some are even starting the talk of possibly sending him to AAA to get some confidence back… assuming he’s not hurt. Sheesh.

The Yankees offense, meanwhile, was facing White Sox ace Chris Sale, which is always a tall order, and I don’t just mean because the guy is 6’6″. Sale came into this game with a 7-0 record and a 1.79 ERA, and he pitched like he wanted to make it even better. Guess what? The big lefty did just that. Believe it or not, the only damage came on a home run by new middle-of-the-order terror Chase Headley. After failing to get an extra-base-hit in his first 28 games, Headley has now homered in two straight games. Now we’ll probably never see Rob Refsnyder (who, by the way, has a 16-game hitting streak now), but at least Headley’s earning some of his ridiculous contract. Anyway, despite the homer and a dodgy ninth, Sale went the distance and dominated the Yankees for his 8th win.

In other news, Gary Sanchez made his season debut, which is super exciting. Unfortunately, the young catcher went hitless, but it was good to see him anyway. Hopefully, he’ll get another shot against lefty Jose Quintana tomorrow. The kid deserves another shot. I wouldn’t judge him based on one game against one of the best pitchers in the game. It’s not like the rest of the offense was able to do anything either. The Yankees only managed three other hits: singles by Aaron Hicks, Mark Teixeira and Brett Gardner. Tough night, indeed.

One thing I will say is that the Yankees bullpen was pretty great in this one. After Severino left injured, Nick Goody came in and pitched 3.1 scoreless innings and only allowed one hit. Chasen Shreve then came in and had his second straight solid outing, pitching in with two scoreless innings of his own. Kirby Yates finished off the night for the Yankees staff with a scoreless ninth. Good job, other bullpen guys!

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Again, this game was a bit of a wash from the early going, but here’s hoping the Severino is OK, and Ivan Nova can get the team back on track tomorrow afternoon.