The second half of the season appears to be looking up for Luis Severino.
After stumbling into the All-Star break on an egregious skid, Severino turned in his second straight strong outing of July in the Yankees’ 8-5 win over the Royals on Sunday afternoon in The Bronx.
It may not have been as convincing as his performance in the club’s 10-inning, 4-3 loss to the Angels last week, when Severino gave up just six hits and one earned run through six innings, but the Dominican hurler powered through Kansas City’s lineup with authority.
Severino registered five strikeouts on Sunday, while walking none and allowing eight hits in 5 ²/₃ innings.
Of the 100 pitches he threw, 68 were strikes.
The Royals managed to pick up three runs on two homers off Severino.
Salvador Perez dropped one into the second deck in right field in the fourth inning before Michael Massey’s two-run shot made it a 5-3 game in the sixth.
“A mistake there in the last inning, you know, but I thought the whole game I was on point,” said Severino, whose ERA stands at 6.46. “Making pitches, really good with my lines where I want to throw my pitch. One mistake in the last inning, but feel very good.”
Ian Hamilton relieved Severino and got out of the inning unscathed.
Michael King and Ron Marinaccio finished off the game for the Yankees.
Sunday’s win was Severino’s second of the season and his first since June 24 against the Rangers.
“They took a lot of good at-bats against him, hit the ball hard against him,” manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees completed the three-game sweep of the Royals. “Kind of a little frustrating he wasn’t able to finish off a really, really strong outing with that sixth inning, the last hitter there. I thought stuff-wise, he was good. I thought his strike throwing was good. He was ahead in counts some.
“Even the last guy of the day, he’s in the leverage count and makes a mistake to him. They hit some balls hard off him, some of their lefties got to him a little bit and obviously [Perez] got into one. I thought overall he threw the ball well and gave us what we needed.”
The first half of the season was a struggle for Severino, who was sidelined the first month and a half with a strained right lat.
He never quite got on track, but the last few starts before the All-Star break were particularly concerning.
Severino had registered a 6.38 ERA in his nine starts prior to his first start of the second half on July 17.
In the last two outings before that series opener in Anaheim, Calif., Severino gave up a whopping 14 earned runs across 6 ²/₃ innings against the Cardinals and Orioles.
The 29-year-old acknowledged that his struggles have stemmed from both mechanical and mental obstacles.
In his last two appearances, Severino said, he’s been able to find his lanes and throw the pitches he’s wanted.
“My [mindset] is to get better every time I get out there,” Severino said. “Get into the fifth inning because I’ve been going out there and after three innings, I’ve been done. It was very good to go out there and at least give the bullpen a little rest.”
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