NEW YORK — New York Yankees pitcher Luis Severino allowed three consecutive home runs to Cincinnati and left Wednesday’s start against the Reds because of right shoulder tightness.
Severino, whose velocity was down, was to undergo an MRI on Thursday. The 28-year-old right-hander allowed homers to Kyle Farmer, Mike Moustakas and Stuart Fairchild in a four-pitch span on the second.
After Yankees manager Aaron Boone and an athletic trainer came to the mound, Severino finished the inning. He went to the mound to start the third and threw a warm-up pitch, then walked off and was replaced by rookie JP Sears.
“I talked to him after the first inning,” Boone said. “He was just a little leery of letting it go, but he kept saying, ‘I feel really good.’ Something was telling him to hold back a little bit. That was the biggest thing.”
Farmer hit a 431-foot drive to left on Severino’s slider, Moustakas connected on a changeup and Fairchild on a 92 mph fastball. This was the third time Severino allowed three homers in a game, the first since Aug. 28, 2017, against Cleveland.
The Yankees won 7-6 in 10 innings.
Severino averaged 94.1 mph with 18 fastballs, down from his season average of 96.1 mph.
“Today I woke up feeling not that great,” Severino said. “I felt a little tight shoulder going to warm up and do all my stuff in the bullpen. It stayed the same in the game.”
Severino won 19 games in 2018 and was selected for his second straight All-Star team. After signing a $40 million, four-year contract in February 2019, Severino strained his latissimus dorsi muscle and didn’t make his first start until Sept. 17. He made two more in the postseason, then had Tommy John surgery Feb. 27, 2020.
Severino returned last Sept. 21 and made four relief appearances plus another in the AL wild-card game.
He is 5-3 with a 3.45 ERA in 17 starts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com