LOS ANGELES — With Clayton Kershaw and Luis Severino on the hill, the Yankees’ collection opener in opposition to the Dodgers had the items in place for a pitching duel. But solely Kershaw delivered on his finish of the cut price because the Dodgers gained, 8-4.
Severino confronted adversity from the leap, as Mookie Betts greeted the right-hander to Dodger Stadium with a leadoff house run. The blast — one in every of two for Betts within the recreation — set the tone for a six-run first for Los Angeles, which additionally obtained a two-run homer from Max Muncy.
Former Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez added a solo shot within the third. All in all, Severino totaled 4 innings, 9 hits, seven earned runs, three house runs, one stroll, two strikeouts and a whopping 13 hard-hit balls over 83 pitches in his third begin of the season.
“I was missing a lot of pitches,” Severino mentioned afterward. “Missed to Mookie Betts, a pitch inside. And this is a good team. They got good hitters, and I had to minimize those mistakes.”
While Severino attributed his woes to poor command, his clunker of a night coincided with a 2.3-mph drop in his fastball’s common velocity. Severino entered the sport averaging 97.3 mph on his heater after two begins, however the pitch averaged 95 mph on Friday.
Severino mentioned that he was not conscious of his diminished velocity in the course of the recreation and that he trusted his heater all through. But he solely threw 5 fastballs in his remaining body.
“I feel they were on the fastball,” Severino reasoned. “So I just needed to mix a little bit.”
In addition to the fastball, Severino’s cutter dipped 2.8 mph, whereas his slider and changeup additionally got here in slower than common. He added that he’ll have a look at his velocity when he opinions the beginning on Saturday.
“The main thing is location,” Severino mentioned. “I can throw 95 where I want — I would rather throw 99 where I want — but 95 I can get through a lineup.”
Aaron Boone mentioned Severino was “just a tick off tonight,” however the supervisor additionally downplayed the diminished velo. When requested about Severino probably tipping his pitches, the supervisor mentioned, “We’ll look at everything.”
Severino mentioned a lot of the identical whereas reiterating that he felt management value him.
“For me, the big thing was location,” he repeated. “Even if I was tipping, I need to get better. This is the big leagues, and if I was tipping, I will look at it and see. But either way, if I was tipping, that’s my bad.”
While Severino struggled, Kershaw pitched effectively regardless of errors to Josh Donaldson and Giancarlo Stanton. Both homered of their return from the injured listing, however the jacks had been hardly sufficient for the Yankees to beat the early gap they discovered themselves in.
Kershaw totaled seven innings, 4 hits, two earned runs, one stroll and 9 strikeouts over 96 pitches.
Donaldson went deep once more within the ninth for a two-run shot, giving the previous MVP his first two-homer recreation since June 11, 2021. The third baseman has not hit persistently since becoming a member of the group final 12 months, however Boone has remained adamant that Donaldson can nonetheless be an offensive power.
The skipper restated these beliefs Friday.
“The guy has been a wrecking machine his whole life,” Boone mentioned. “He’s bought that ability set. He nonetheless has that energy, that twitch, that bat velocity. I do know it’s in there.
“It was definitely good to see him come out and get some results right out of the gate. Hopefully that can propel him a little bit because when he’s right, he’s a great player. When you’ve been out for a while and get results like he did, hopefully that’s something that goes a long way and gets him rolling.”
Donaldson, after enjoying within the majors for the primary time since April 5, shared comparable sentiments after the sport. But he additionally didn’t need to learn an excessive amount of into his first recreation again.
“Today is one day,” Donaldson mentioned. “I have to go out and do it again tomorrow.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com