Yankees beat Rangers, 7-1, as Luis Severino makes triumphant return

As important as each win is for the Yankees, the playoff race seemed to take a back seat as Luis Severino pitched for the first time in two years. The former ace pitched the final two innings of the 7-1 victory, removing a pair on strikes. It was one of those moments that reminds us why we love baseball, to see how much his return meant to him, his teammates and the fans at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees offense took some time to shift into high gear, but managed to steadily increase their lead until Aaron Judge’s knockout blow in the seventh. He, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo all pulled off a homerun, offering a glimpse of the true potential of this line of hitters.

After going through the first three innings, Jordan Montgomery encountered some difficulties in the fourth. However, he got the ship right and ultimately gave the Yankees 5.2 one-run innings. Michael King and Severino turned off the lights to wrap it up and greet a special evening.

The Yankees gave Montgomery a first inning of support – a rarity on the days he throws. Anthony Rizzo hit a hit by pitch and advanced to third on a double from the judge in the center-right gap. Stanton brought Rizzo home on a broken-bat dribbler to the shortstop to take the 1-0 lead.

They put the riders second and third in the second via a walk from Gleyber Torres and a brett Gardner brace, but neither Gio Urshela nor DJ LeMahieu were able to get the job done. It has been quite shocking to see the production disappearance of these two hitters this year, especially in scoring situations. Each have lost about 100 points less than their average with runners in scoring position over the past two seasons, which is a big part of why the Yankees offense has stalled this year.

Stanton, on the other hand, continued to deliver tonight. With two outs in the third, he turned on a 0-1 inside slider, sizzling a solo shot just inside the left-field foul post to double the Yankees’ advantage, 2-0. The ball left its bat at 118.5 mph – his third hardest home run this season – and landed 415 feet in a flash. It almost seemed like the ball was still rising when it hit the seats.

Montgomery looked sharp in the first innings. He had a pair of strikeouts in the first and third, needing just 43 shots to complete the first three frames. However, he encountered some issues in the fourth.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa started with a walk and Andy Ibáñez called with a single off the right wall to put the runners in the corners. Kiner-Falefa would come in to score from Nick Solak’s field, but Montgomery locked him from there to escape the round with only the one run given up.

After a quiet fourth, the Yankees offensive staged a mini-rally in the fifth. Urshela, LeMahieu and Rizzo led the set with three straight singles – Rizzo brought Urshela to score to make it 3-1, Yankees.

Unfortunately, two back-to-back hot shots from Judge and Stanton killed the rally in its tracks, including the mandatory double play late in the round. You could credit Yonny Hernández with two great defensive plays … but really, LEAVE THE BALL OF THE FIELD! *

* Fortunately, the judge would oblige later … and then some.

Montgomery had two quick eliminations in the sixth, but Ibáñez’s brace knocked him out of the contest. King raked the final and García was eliminated. This was another typically excellent outing from Montgomery, inducing a puff rate of over 30% on both shift and curve, as well as inducing a ton of soft contact. He left the game just two points clear, but it’s Monty we’re talking about, so three points is a veritable deluge of offensive support. His last row: 5.2 innings, four hits, one run, one walk and six strikeouts on 93 shots.

Gallo took the Yankees’ lead to 4-1 in the bottom half. He hit an elevated fastball from the first pitch into the second bridge to the right. The bullet was tattooed at 108.6 mph, landing 395 feet away, and came off the stick with a launch angle greater than double the Stanton explosion.

King came back for the seventh and threw like a possessed one. He pulled the side out on 10 pitches and arguably was deprived of his immaculate second inning of the season on that questionable ball call:

King looks like a new pitcher since returning from injury. His fastball has gained a few mph while his breaking ball features considerably more depth. In four relief outings out of the IL, King allowed just two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out 10 in 9.1 innings.

The Yankees really broke this one in the seventh courtesy of Aaron Judge. After LeMahieu and Rizzo hit the goal on foot and hit the pitch, respectively, Judge pierced a cutter suspended 1-0 from a row of the stands to the right. The 415-foot, 109.1-mph missile gave the Yankees a 7-1 lead and allowed us to sit back and enjoy the magic that followed.

After 707 days, Luis Severino has finally made his long-awaited return for the Yankees. He wasted no time getting into his groove, taking out the first hitter he faced on a dirty change:

Severino got another strikeout on the slider to finish the eighth. In the ninth, he rounded a García single to complete his two-set outing. The fastball was around 95 mph as the slider and shift featured the late break and depth that made Severino such a dominant pitcher before the injury.

And so the Yankees won this one pretty easily, 7-1. It was a complete team performance, crowned by the triumphant return of Severino. Unfortunately, the Red Sox and Blue Jays won, so the Yankees did not gain ground in the AL Wild Card race. That said, they only have half a game left and every win counts.

They’ll go for the sweep tomorrow with Corey Kluber on the mound. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET, so we hope to see you then.

The score of the box