ARLINGTON, Texas — Luis Severino blinked first. He made sure it didn’t happen again.
The Yankees trailed by a run for a good portion of Saturday afternoon’s game against the Rangers, and the fire-balling right-hander didn’t let the deficit increase.
“I know the team is going to hit,” he said. “I just think I have to keep this game one run, and that’s what I did.”
The Yankees did eventually hit, scratching out a run in the eighth and two in the ninth to rebound from Friday’s dismal result with a 3-1 victory at Globe Life Park. It wouldn’t have been possible without Severino stymying the Rangers until the Yankees could get into their opponent’s soft bullpen after being held down by Andrew Cashner for seven innings.
“He was really good today,” manager Joe Girardi said after Severino (12-6) became the first Yankees pitcher to allow one hit or fewer over seven innings since Michael Pineda on Sept. 22, 2014, against the Orioles. “It looked like he had great command of his fastball, his slider was good. His command was really good.”
Severino struck out 10, walked three and lowered his ERA to 2.96, which is the third-lowest in the American League, higher than just Corey Kluber and Chris Sale. His lone mistake came in the home fifth inning, a 97-mph fastball that bled over the middle of the plate. Brett Nicholas, batting ninth, drove the offering into the right-field corner, plating Will Middlebrooks, who had reached on a fielder’s choice.
“That was a bad pitch,” the 23-year-old Severino said.
Otherwise, Severino was virtually unhittable. He stranded Nicholas by striking out Delino DeShields on a 98-mph fastball. He pitched around a walk and a Starlin Castro error in the third, throwing another 98-mph fastball by Shin-Soo Choo.
When the Rangers were making contact — and they did so just 38 percent of their at-bats — it was soft. Aside from the Nicholas double, there were just three balls hit out of the infield.
It was another masterful performance in a season full of them for Severino, who wasn’t even a lock to make the starting rotation in the spring. He struggled mightily a year ago, only pitching well out of the bullpen. Obviously, a lot has changed in a manner of months.
“That’s why I [worked hard] in the offseason, to show the Yankees and the fans I can be a starter,” Severino said.
He’s convinced everyone of more than that. He’s become the Yankees’ ace.