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MINNEAPOLIS – When the playoffs of the American Hockey League take place in three weeks, almost certainly in Oakland or Yankee Stadium, Aaron Boone may have a decision to make on his plate.
Who will be his starting pitcher?
He could turn to the reliable J.A. Happ or the fiery Masahiro Tanaka.
But the thrower to whom Boone would very much like to put the destiny of his team is Luis Severino. This was clearly the plaintive voice of Boone on Wednesday before sending Severino on the mound against the Minnesota Twins.
"The fact is that when Sevy is right, he can compete with anyone in the sport. When he is well, he can face them. Having this weapon available in October is huge and hopefully tonight is really the beginning of its growth. "
It was the third time in two questions about Severino that Boone was using the word "hopefully".
The way Severino launched the last two months – 6.83 E.R.A. and 13 home homers allowed in his previous 11 starts at the gate on Wednesday – have left little to the Yankees, but hope their two All-Star throwers will be put back in order.
They gave him extra rest, were very encouraging, and in the days following his last start – two two-thirds implosions in Oakland – he and his receiver, Gary Sanchez, could no longer be heard.
But as a sign of the turn of the Yankees' fortune, one night Severino took steps in the right direction, he was almost eclipsed by the unworthiness of his untapped team. Jake Odorizzi, the right-hander of the Twins, made the Yankees helpless for seven and a third of innings in a 3-1 victory.
The defeat brought down the Yankees, who have 16 games to play, 10 games less than the Boston Red Sox in the East AHL, and reduced their lead over the Oakland Athletics in the race for the wild card.
It also marked a discouraging end to a trip of 4 to 5 in which they continue to look less and less like a team with serious aspirations for the World Series. It was also the third time in less than two weeks that a pitcher was carrying a non-hitter in the sixth inning against the Yankees.
"Baseball will hit you in the mouth once in a while," said Boone. "We are clearly facing some adversity at the moment and we will adopt them and we will be better for that."
The Yankees know Odorizzi well in Tampa Bay: In 2016, he beat a defender of the seventh inning and lost 2-1 on a circuit of Starlin Castro – the only shot of the Yankees.
Wednesday, Odorizzi beat three batters, eliminated five batters and made a superb defensive play. He got on his knees to catch a dribbler in the fifth inning to the left of the mound, Didi Gregorius.
The Yankees had a number of hard-hit bullets – Aaron Hicks beat a center that would surely have led to Yankee Stadium, left-field player Robbie Grossman slid on Luke Voit's liner and Miguel Andujar's lining quite for the thief Jake Cave to sting him. But none fell until Greg Bird's double doubled the center-left score in the eighth.
"I knew he'd be swaying early, so I just wanted to push him to the end," said Odorizzi, who launched Bird a quick two-sided ball. "He had enough to get him out – stayed true, did not decide, put it in the right place. If I threw him a four-seamstress, he probably puts him in the seats. "
The coup brought Voit, who had walked with one. Odorizzi, who received a standing ovation on the way back to the canoe, recognized the crowd with one end of his cap and a wide wave.
The exit of Odorizzi contrasts sharply with the departure of Severino in the sixth. When Boone went to the mound to lift Severino, the Twins taking a 1-0 lead on three hits, the pitcher did not seem happy, having a few words with the manager before returning to the pirogue.
"I asked him to leave me a hitter and he said that was it," Severino said.
Severino, who had only thrown 83 shots, was asked to say he hoped to influence Boone.
"Maybe," Severino said. "Sometimes you talk to your manager and you let him know you trust to get out that hitter and you change your mind."
Boone said he did not care about Severino's pleadings.
"He is in the fight right now, and I respect hell," Boone said. "He wants the ball and he wants to get out of this situation; the way we are lined up, I felt like it was the right decision at that time. "
Yet even with the best team shooters rested and a day off Thursday, it seems hard to imagine that the Severino who had a 1.98 E.R.A. July 1 would not have had more latitude.
Nevertheless, there were clearly signs of improvement for Severino on Wednesday. He worked quickly and efficiently, allowing only one shot before the sixth inning.
But he did not dominate as he was earlier in the season – with performances like a full game, a 10-game shutout on the Houston Astros or a shutout of the Red Sox on two hits in six and two-thirds.
Severino eliminated five players on Wednesday and did not score a goal in five and two-thirds. The only race he allowed was when Max Kepler sent a single through the vacant left side of the infield, and then Ehire Adrianza hit a brace in the right turn in the sixth inning. Joe Mauer followed with a specific single, but Adrianza was third.
After Jorge Polanco was eliminated when he could not control his swing on a fast ball that could go up, allowing Mauer to move to second place, but now Adrianza in third position, Boone turned to David Robertson. two races in the seventh.
Although few Twins have seen a lot of Severino – in his previous two starts, including last year's playoffs, he lasted only three and a third innings – he received late encouragement from the other side.
"It will go well," said Odorizzi, noting that Severino's slider was more irregular than in the past. "It's not that far. He just needs a game for him to click with his throws because his fastball will always be there.
Or the Yankees are hoping.
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