Luis Severino showed the Yankees reason to believe that he can rediscover his 2017-18 self last week when he mowed down a potent Blue Jays lineup through five shutout innings, striking out six along the way.
But his performance on Wednesday may have been even more encouraging.
Severino clearly didn’t have his best stuff in chilly Detroit, but despite pitching around a pair of walks and seven hits, the righty managed to limit the Tigers to one run over five innings to will the Yanks to a 5-3 victory, their second in a row.
“It’s tough, but my mentality was to give my team a chance to win and keep the game close,” Severino said. “I know when I don’t have my best stuff, I can still get through a lineup. I’m not gonna get 20 strikeouts or something like that, but I can manage to get through five or six innings.”
Severino was the victim of some soft contact hits when he ran into trouble, but he stranded the bases loaded with a big strikeout of Tucker Barnhart to end the fourth. He then came back and fanned two in a perfect fifth to end his night.
“This kind of outing, when you don’t have your stuff, you have to rely on something else,” Severino said. “It can be your fastball, or your changeup. I threw a couple good cutters to some guys there. When I don’t have my best stuff, I can still manage myself to get through a good five innings.”
Severino did rely on his fastball, throwing it 50 percent of the time after just 39.8 percent in his start against Toronto. But he did what he had to do to get through five innings and give his team a chance to win.
Now, the Yankees have seen Severino at his best this season, and have watched him make the most out of a start when he doesn’t have it.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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