The Associated Press
Ronald Blum
NEW YORK–Luis Severino pumped 98 m.p.h. heaters and sliders past batters and fooled them with changeups.
“Our ace is back,” Aaron Judge proclaimed. “I’m excited about it. And just at the right time.”
Severino struck out nine over five scoreless innings for his first win this season, and the New York Yankees followed an emotional tribute to CC Sabathia by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3 yesterday in their regular-season home finale.
After watching Severino stretch his scoreless streak to nine innings over two games in his return from a lat injury that had sidelined the pitcher since spring training,
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Severino (1-0) will be part of the AL East champions’ post-season rotation, which also includes Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton.
And without a full workload of 30-plus starts, Severino may be stronger than usual.
“I feel fresh and I feel good to go,” he said. “The velocity is there.”
Sabathia and J.A. Happ are being moved to the bullpen for the final week of the regular season, making it likely the Yankees will use a three-man rotation for much of October and combine relievers for some games.
Tanaka is being skipped for his Tuesday turn at Tampa Bay to give him extra rest but will start the regular season finale at Texas next weekend, lining him up for the Division Series opener on Oct. 4.
Paxton will start Friday against the Rangers and Severino on Saturday.
Severino allowed three singles and hit a batter while walking none. He threw 54 of 80 pitches for strikes, including his first 11.
“I think he’s going to play a huge role for us,” Boone said. “If we’re going to get far in this thing, he’s going to have to pitch well.”
Severino induced 13 swings and misses, 11 on fastballs and two on sliders.
“He looked like his old self today,” said Toronto’s Billy McKinney, who homered twice off New York’s bullpen.
Serverino threw 46 fastballs that averaged 96.5 m.p.h. and topped out at 98.7 m.p.h. He mixed in 18 sliders and 16 changeups.
In other AL action, Baltimore shaded Seattle 2-1; Boston dumped Tampa Bay 7-4; Detroit doubled the Chicago White Sox 6-3; Houston routed the L.A. Angels 13-5; Minnesota downed Kansas City 12-8; and Texas upended Oakland 8-3.
Cleveland smoked Philadelphia 10-1 in interleague play.
Over in the NL, Cincinnati doubled the N.Y. Mets 6-3; Miami topped Washington 5-3; San Francisco beat Atlanta 4-1; Milwaukee edged Pittsburgh 4-3; St. Louis nipped the Chicago Cubs 3-2; the L.A. Dodgers dispatched Colorado 7-4; and San Diego outlasted Arizona 6-4 (10 innings).
