As you step into this streak, you’ll be forgiven for expecting a string of high-flying games filled with attacking action, but for the third time in four days a team has been unable to push a run over the plate and for the second For the first time in three days, it was the Yankees’ pitching staff that came out on top. From the first pitch to (almost) the final, the Yankees pitching team put in a masterful pitching performance, beating Vladimir Guerrero Jr. four times en route to a 3-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Luis Severino’s performance tonight can only be described as: absolutely dominant. His final line is impressive enough — five scoreless innings with just two hits, two walks and six strikeouts — but the truth is, the line doesn’t tell the whole story. Even after Teoscar Hernández lost to an oblique injury last night, the Blue Jays’ lineup is stacked, and yet Severino broke through it like he was playing MLB The Show on the lowest difficulty level. Over the course of his five innings of work, he produced 15 puffs and held opposing batsmen to just .139 xBA. His cutter/slider (Statcast isn’t sure what it is exactly) and changeup in particular were on point, accounting for 13 puffs.
However, not everything went smoothly for the young right-hander. Toronto threatened early when a Bo Bichette double put a runner in goal position, but an out for the ever-threatening Guerrero Jr. Severino knocked him out. An inside fastball eluded Sevy and dropped Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but he tricked Raimel Tapia into third to finish the inning.
Catcher Alejandro Kirk opened the second with a swinging bunt single that had a launch angle of -62 degrees and an exit speed of just 54.8 mph. He would be second if Cavan left Biggio. After Santiago Espinal flew into midfield, Bradley Zimmer caught a rare error from Anthony Rizzo, who dropped a throw from second baseman DJ LeMahieu on a soft groundball. With the bases loaded, one out and at the top of the order, the Blue Jays were ready to open the game. However, George Springer hit a flyball to right field for an easy out, but he didn’t place it deep enough for the slow third-place Kirk to move, and Bichette landed in second to finish the inning.
Severino opened the top of the third by handing Guerrero his second strikeout of the game. From that point on, he only allowed one other baserunner, Walker Kirk, to lead from the top of the fourth. He retired the last six batters he faced, three of them in strikeouts, and he ended his night with something historic. By beating Guerrero to finish the fifth, Severino became just the first pitcher in the first baseman’s fledgling career to defeat him three times in one game.
I think I speak for everyone when I say, “I missed the Sevy Strikeout scream and I’m hoping to see a lot more of that this year.”
What made Severino’s performance all the more exciting was the fact that Kevin Gausman was dealing for the Blue Jays. He pulled back the first seven batters he faced, though he needed a little help from Guerrero when Rizzo laced a 109.2 mph line drive right at him. Against the first seven batters in the lineup, he recorded nine strikeouts and gave up only two hits. But tonight his Achilles’ heel was… the bottom of the Yankees lineup, who went 4-on-4 against him despite the Yankees Nos. 8 and 9 in order coming into play a combined 3-for-42 in the season.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who was at the top of third place, hit the ball twice – a fact Phil Hughes brought to the attention of the YES Network broadcast – as he laced a single over the head of Espinal at third base. Gausman then edged him into second place, allowing him to score when Gurriel bucked Jose Trevino’s bloop single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Despite Trevino finishing second due to the misplay, that was all they were going to get as Josh Donaldson struck and Aaron Judge flew into midfield to end the inning.
The Yankees’ offense was choked again in the fourth inning, but IKF returned to the plate in the fifth and reignited the offense. He laced a groundball out of the glove of a diving bichette for a two-out double. Trevino then hit another bloop single that found green in the outfield and Kiner-Falefa came back to score to extend the lead to 2.
In the sixth and seventh innings, the Blue Jays tried to tighten the lead while the Yankees looked for an insurance run, and while both teams threatened, neither could overrun until the end of the eighth inning. The judge opened the inning with a double, then advanced to third when Rizzo landed on first base, and finally scored in the contact play when Giancarlo Stanton landed just short of Bichette to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead bring to.
Unfortunately, in the top of ninth place, it was immediately apparent that the Yankees needed every run. To say that Aroldis Chapman had absolutely nothing for him tonight would be an understatement: looking towards the bottom of the order, he footed all three batters he faced and threw just four total strikes. Aaron Boone brought Michael King up in a rush and after gaining as much time as possible, drew him closer out of the game after at least three batters.
With the bases loaded, nobody out and at the top of the order, things were looking bleak and the script seemed written for Guerrero to acquit his first career sombrero with a game-winning hit in the ninth. But King came out with a vengeance, beating knights on three squares and getting Bichette to hit an easy liner to LeMahieu, who threw the ball to Rizzo to double up for Matt Chapman to end the game and Guerrero on the bench keep. Five pitches, five strikes and three outs – a truly royal outing.
Luis Severino records the win, becoming the first Yankee starting pitcher to record a win in 2022, while Kevin Gausman is tagged with the loss. Thanks to the cleanup of Chapman’s mess, King scores the first save of his career as he continues to show in the early stages that he deserves more high-leverage innings this year. With the win, the Yankees improve to 4-3 this season, and while we’re not watching the scoreboard yet, it gives them a share of first place in the tight AL East.
The Yankees return to action tomorrow and take their first road trip of the year as they head down to Camden Yards to face the Baltimore Orioles. Jordan Montgomery gets the ball for the Yankees after being hit by a line drive during Sunday night’s game against the Red Sox; Jordan Lyles will defy him. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., and as always, we’ve got all the coverage you need right here.
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