Yanks 7, Tigers 4: Severino stars in first game of doubleheader

That was very close to the ideal first game of a doubleheader. The offense put up a bunch of runs fairly early and the staff ace pitched deep into the game, but some shoddy defense and bullpen shenanigans forced the Yankees to use their closer. Almost made it through with all their key relievers fresh for the nightcap. Alas. The Yankees beat the Tigers 7-4 in Monday’s doubleheader opener. There is no chance I’m writing two full recaps in one day, so let’s bullet point this sucker:

• Second Time Around: Gleyber Torres got the Yankees on the board with an opposite field solo home run in the third inning. Including that, the Yankees went 1-for-8 with a homer and a walk the first time through the lineup against Drew VerHagen. After that, they went 6-for-10 with a walk. They opened the fourth inning with six consecutive hits, sandwiching four singles between a Greg Bird solo homer and an Austin Romine three-run homer. Romine, man. He’s been sooo good this year. The six-run fourth inning gave the Yankees a 7-1 lead.
• Eight For Sevy: Eight dominant innings for Luis Severino and he made it look like a walk in the park. He allowed a first inning run on a Miguel Cabrera double and a fifth inning unearned run when Torres muffed a routine grounder that would’ve ended the inning, and that’s it. Second straight start with 10+ strikeouts and his fourth in his last seven games. He now has nine career 10+ strikeout games and is up to 102 strikeouts on the year. Severino is somehow getting better.
• Unnecessary Save: Bad defense and some bad pitching forced Aroldis Chapman into the game in the ninth. Romine dropped a pop-up and Aaron Hicks let a catchable fly ball sail over his head, giving the Tigers their third run. Jose Iglesias then hit a loud double and that was the end of the day for Jonathan Holder. Chapman came to get the one-out, six-pitch save. Felt unnecessary, but whatever. Really would be nice if the Yankees could catch the ball consistently.
• Leftovers: Severino’s final line: 8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K. He retired 23 of the 27 batters he faced after Cabrera’s first inning double … Every starter reached base at least once and the Aarons were the only ones without hits. Hicks and Judge did both draw a walk though … Bird, Romine, and Torres each had a homer and a walk while Gregorius had a single and a walk … Gregorius also stole a base, his career-high-tying seventh of the season.

Here are the box score, video highlights, updated standings, and our Bullpen Workload page. The Yankees and Tigers will meet again for the second game of this split admission doubleheader at 7pm ET tonight. Domingo German and Mike Fiers are the scheduled starters for that one.

Source: FanGraphs