Boston Red Sox 2 – New York Yankees 1
Luis Severino makes his awaited debut at home against the Red Sox.
After a scoreless first inning that featured his first strikeout, Xander Bogaerts, Luis Severino looked to pitch a scoreless second inning but the defense let him down. After retiring the first two batters, Mike Napoli hit a ground ball that Chase Headley fielded just behind third base and his throw short hopped Mark Teixeira at first base, allowing Napoli to advance to second on the throwing error. The error proved to be costly when Alejandro De Aza hit a high fly ball to right field that hit the wall for a run-scoring double.
Following a 1-2-3 third inning, Severino fell behind to David Ortiz and the Red Sox designated hitter took advantage of the hitter’s count and hit a deep home run to the right field bleachers to put the Red Sox ahead by two.
For the Yankees bats, knuckleball pitcher Steven Wright was dominant.
Through the first three innings, only three batters managed to put the ball in play. Through three innings, Wright struck out six and walked two while allowing no hits. Through the first four innings, Wright held the Yankees hitless. The Yankees finally snapped the no-hit bid when Didi Gregorius hit a single to center field. John Ryan Murphy got the second hit in the inning but Jacoby Ellsbury struck out to end the threat.
Luis Severino finished his debut with a strikeout but was on the hook for the loss. In five innings, Luis Severino allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits while walking none and striking out seven.
Severino is the first pitcher in American League history with two hits or fewer allowed, no walks and seven strikeouts. Outside of two mistakes, Luis Severino lived up to all the hype and expectations of him. Hopefully the start to a great career.
Meanwhile, the Yankees did not get on the board until Carlos Beltran ended the shutout bid. In the seventh inning, Carlos Beltran led off with a solo home run, his ninth of the season, to bring the Yankees within one.
Following the debut of Severino, Adam Warren provided three innings of one-hit baseball to keep the game well within reach.
John Ryan Murphy ended the top of the third inning with a hustle play to the backstop, making a great catch. He followed up with a leadoff single in the bottom of the eighth inning but Jacoby Ellsbury’s rough night caught some bad luck. After striking out in the first three at-bats, Jacoby Ellsbury finally made contact, only for it to deflect off the pitcher’s foot and become a routine double play for the Red Sox shortstop, ending the threat.
Chasen Shreve took on the ninth inning and retired the first two with ease before running into trouble. Pablo Sandoval hit a ground-rule double into right field which led to an intentional walk of Mike Napoli. Pinch-hitter Rusney Castillo was walked to load the bases and Blake Swihart got the opportunity to break open the game. In an eight-pitch battle, Shreve got Swihart to strikeout looking at a fastball, stranding the bases loaded and keeping the Yankees within one.
After eight innings of one-run baseball against a knuckleball, the Yankees faced closer Koji Uehara. After the first out by Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira hit a fading line drive to right field where Rusney Castillo short hopped the ball, requiring a challenge to overturn the call, for a single as the potential tying run. A passed ball allowed pinch-runner Chris Young to advance to second. With the runner on second, Chase Headley was unintentionally, while seeming intentionally, walked to put two on with two outs. Pinch-hitter Brian McCann, nursing a knee injury, came on with the potential game-winning run at first base but flew out to center field to spoil the debut of Luis Severino.
Win – Steven Wright (5-4)
Loss – Luis Severino (0-1)
Save – Koji Uehara (24)
Notables
Red Sox
*David Ortiz – 1 for 4, R, Solo home run (21) in the 4, RBI (60)
*Alejandro De Aza – 1 for 3, 2B, RBI (29)
Yankees
*Carlos Beltran – 1 for 3, R, BB, Solo home run (9) in the 7, RBI (35)
*John Ryan Murphy – 2 for 3
Current Yankees Record: 60-46
