Aaron Judge wasn't in the lineup for the Yankees Sunday, but that wasn't a problem in a 4-1 victory against the Reds. The return of Luis Severino to the rotation set the tone for a strong day of pitching while long balls from Harrison Bader and Gleyber Torres keyed the offense. The win completed a sweep of the Reds and improved the Yankees to 11-3 in their last 14 games.
The big news was Severino's 2023 debut. The right-hander suffered a lat strain late in spring training and has been working his way back since. A two-time All-Star, Severino finished as high as third in Cy Young voting (2018), but he's also been saddled with loads of injuries the past several seasons. Due to Tommy John surgery and various other ailments, he only appeared in three games in 2019, four in 2021 and 19 last season.
Sunday against the Reds on a limited pitch count (he finished with 75), Severino worked 4 2/3 innings, allowing only one run on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts. His fastball sat around 96-97 mph and topped out at 98.6 mph on his 68th pitch of the game.
There was a bit of controversy around the one run he allowed, too. On a Spencer Steer looping liner in the first inning, Yankees right fielder Jake Bauers was unable to make a sliding catch just about on the foul line. It was initially ruled a foul ball, but the replay review ruled it fair. The umpires awarded Jonathan India (who had been on first base) home plate. Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected arguing the discretionary move of the umpiring crew to count the run.
The call was perfectly defensible, given that India was approaching third base while Bauers was laying on the ground with the baseball behind him -- and since this wasn't a ground-rule double or automatic double, the umpires were allowed to use judgement on where to place the runners -- but it ended up being of little consequence.
The Yankees took a 2-1 lead on Bader's two-run shot in the fifth:
They would tack on two more with Torres' homer and an Anthony Volpe RBI double.
The Yankees have now won 11 of their last 14 games and have climbed to a season-high nine games over .500 at 29-20. The Severino return is significant in the macro, too, as Carlos Rodón and Frankie Montas remain on the injured list.
