Phillies’ manager: Yankees’ Luis Severino “as dirty as you can possibly be”

Gabe Kapler and Phillies players raved about the New York ace after a 6-0 Yankee win.

PHILADELPHIA – Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said Yankees starter Luis Severino was “as dirty as you can possibly be” following the Yankees‘ 6-0 victory over Jake Arrieta and the Phillies Tuesday. 

Severino became the major’s first 12-game winner with seven shutout innings in the matchup of top right-handers. While Arrieta continued a rough June, Severino continued his push to possibly start the All-Star Game. 

The Yankees ace is 12-2 with a 2.10 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 111 2/3 innings. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 14 consecutive starts, the longest stretch for a Yankee pitcher in four years. 

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“A lot of our guys were talking about the life on the fastball and difficult to catch up to,” said Kapler of Severino’s 100-mph heater. “We knew it was going to be on top of them, but it just had a little extra life today. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other pitcher.” 

As Arrieta – who allowed six runs, three earned in five innings – noted, the game was over on the third pitch when Aaron Hicks led off the game with a home run. It was the only run Severino and relievers Adam Warren and Chasen Shreve ended up needing. 

“Severino was really good,” said Arrieta. “We didn’t score any runs. Pretty much after the third pitch of the game, that was pretty much it. You don’t know that’s going to be the case until the game plays out. If it’s a tighter game going into the fifth or sixth inning, maybe it’s a different outcome, but it’s my job to keep it as close as I can.” 

Phillies catcher Andrew Knapp acknowledged it was difficult to pick up the slider coming out of Severino’s hand. The Phillies, who take pride in building up starters’ pitch counts, didn’t put Severino in any difficult situations until putting two runners on in the seventh. 

“It’s an electric fastball and you really have to honor that,” said Knapp, who was 1-for-3 with a double against Severino. “When he can throw that slider strike to ball, it’s tough to decipher which one is which. Kudos to him for going out and pounding the strike zone. 

“We wanted to make him throw more pitches than he did. That was kind of a game plan for a lot of us, but he came out and threw strikes.” 

It was a second straight loss for the Phillies, who have scored just two runs in two games. On Monday, Yankees rookie Jonathan Loaisiga took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

But Arrieta said he wasn’t looking too deeply at two games determining whether the Phillies can contend with the likes of the Yankees. 

“As far as I look at it, it’s a series at the end of June,” said Arrieta. “It’s a big one, they’re a good team, you want to beat them, but you want to beat everybody you’re going to play. They flat-out beat us. We have to turn it around tomorrow.”

Not having to face Severino will certainly increase their odds.

Bill Evans can be reached at [email protected] or by leaving a note in the comments below. Follow him on Twitter @BEvansSports.