After allowing three runs in 1.2 innings of work, Luis Severino didn’t appear to have his best stuff when he walked Bo Bichette to put runners at the corners with two outs in the second, and already two runs across in the inning.
But as Aaron Boone emerged from the dugout, Severino quickly waved his hand and pointed back into the dugout, motioning for Boone to stay where he was and let him keep throwing.
That’s what Boone did, and Severino lasted another two innings without allowing a run, helping salvage some bullpen arms as the Yanks continue a grueling stretch of 23 games in 22 days.
“I don’t want to disrespect Booney, he’s a great skipper,” Severino said after allowing three runs in 4.2 innings. “I just wanted to be in the game. I know I had a lot of pitches there, but I knew I had more than me. At least I went 4 2/3."
Severino was at 61 pitches when he waved Boone back into the dugout, but Boone said afterward that he wasn’t sure whether he was going to call to the bullpen as he climbed the dugout steps, rather intended to check Severino’s body language to see if he wanted to continue.
The wave back to the dugout, which rivaled Mike Mussina to Joe Torre in 2006, was all Boone needed to see.
“I was fine with it, because I wasn’t going out to take him out necessarily,” Boone said. “I was going more to check on him. He’s up in that 60-pitch, and get a little concerned there in that second inning point. I was more going out to take his temperature a little bit and maybe take him out, so when he pushed me away hard like that I was like ‘Yes sir, let’s go.’”
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