Yankees fans are reconnecting with the Luis Severino of the good old days this season. On Saturday afternoon in New York, the 28-year-old Dominican put on a brilliant performance to help local favorites win the Detroit Tigers 3-0.
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Severino (4-1) had his best start to the campaign, allowing just one hit in seven innings of work. He also had 10 strikeouts while conceding only one walk.
You have to go back to August 31, 2018 to list the last game in which Severino had a dozen batsmen through the air.
The gunman, who injured a shoulder and underwent Tommy John-type surgery, was limited to 18 innings of major league baseball between 2019 and 2021.
This season, Severino now has a 2.95 ERA after 55 innings on the mound. Recall that the Dominican excelled in 2018 with the Yankees with a 19-8 record. The year before, Severino started 14-6 and finished third in voting for the US Cy Young Trophy, behind winner Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians and Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox.
A fifth win in a row
The win over the Tigers gave the Yankees (38-15) their fifth straight win, leaving the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays very few opportunities to close the gap in the American League East Division classification race.
In Saturday’s game, Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo each hit a solo homer for the Yankees. Judge hit his 21st long ball of the season. After Severino folded, assists Michael King and Clay Holmes closed the door on the Tigers with a perfect inning each. Holmes signed his eighth save of the season, he excelled towards the end of the game in the absence of Cuban Aroldis Chapman, who is currently on the injured list.