Yankees' Luis Severino, making early run at 20 wins, dominates Tigers in Game 1 win

by Felix Pantaleón

The Yankees pounded the Detroit Tigers 7-4 on Monday, June 4, 2018 (6/4/18) in the opener of a day-night doubleheader at Comerica Park in Detroit, Mich. Severino struck out 10 batters in eight innings of work to improve to 9-1 with a 2.20 ERA.

DETROIT — A near-empty Yankees clubhouse began filling up around 10:45 Monday morning just after a team bus made its way to Comerica Park.

Luis Severino stood out walking in.

He was dressed in a spiffy outfit.

He had a big smile on his face.

And this Yankees horse looked Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Justify the way he was bobbing his head and prancing to his locker.

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Severino reeks confidence these days, and why not? The Dominican righty has elevated his 2017 game, which was good enough to make him an AL Cy Young finalist, to the level the game’s other best of the best.

As usual, Severino was dominating again in the opener of a makeup doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers, a 7-4 Yankees cruise-fest that stretched their winning streak to five.

The Yanks were up big until the Tigers scored two in the ninth off reliever Jonathan Holder.

Severino (9-1) was all that again in allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits in eight innings with 10 strikeouts, no walks and a hit batter in a 112-pitch outing in which he threw 85 strikes and 27 balls.

His nine wins lead the American League and tie Washington Nationals righty Max Scherzer (9-1) for the most in baseball. His 2.20 ERA and 104 strikeouts are fourth in the league, his 86 innings second.

For the second game in a row, Severino had a dominating fastball and slider. He fanned five with his heater, one on a 100-mph pitch, and punched out five with his slider.

Five days earlier, Severino struck out a career-high 11 in beating Houston with a two-run, seven-inning outing.

Severino gave up a first-inning run, but the Yankees started teeing off on Tigers starter Drew VerHagen (0-2) in the third when rookie Gleyber Torres hit a game-tying homer and had the game in control by the fourth when Greg Bird and Austin Romine went deep in a six-run uprising that led to a 7-1 lead.

The Yankees will go for a sweep of the twinbill in a nightcap that is scheduled to begin at 7:10 p.m.

NOTABLE

— Outfielder Clint Frazier, called up from Triple-A to be the Yanks’ 26th player for the doubleheader, started in left and was 1 for 4 with an RBI single and two strikeouts.

— Romine’s homer was a three-run blast to the deepest part of left-center field that stretched the Yankees’ lead to 7-1 and extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 games.

— Torres’ homer made him the youngest Yankee to hit 10 homers before his 22nd birthday since Mickey Mantle had 21 in 1953.

— Aroldis Chapman came on with two runs in, a runner on second and two down in the ninth and struck out Victor Martinez to record his 14th save.

— Torres’ 10 homers also are the second-most ever by a Yankees’ No. 9 hitter, trailing only Alfonso Soriano’s 11 in 2001.

— This was Severino’s ninth career double-digit strikeout game, four of which have come this season in 13 starts.

— Shortstop Didi Gregorius tied his career high for stolen bases by stealing his seventh of the season (in nine tries) in the second inning. Coming into the season, Gregorius had just 18 stolen bases in 25 career attempts, including three in four tries in 2017. He was seven for eight in 2016.

— The Yankees committed two errors, as Torres made a throwing error in the fifth and Romine dropped a popup in the ninth.

— Tigers righty Sandy Baez worked 4 1/3 innings of scoreless and hitless relief with four strikeouts and three walks in his Major League debut.

LOOKING AHEAD

Monday: Game 2, Yankees at Detroit Tigers, 7:10 p.m., YES & MLB Network (out of market). RHP Domingo German (0-3, 5.45) vs. RHP Mike Fiers (4-3, 4.45).

Tuesday: Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m., YES Network. LHP CC Sabathia (2-1, 3.73) vs. RHP Marco Estrada (2-6, 5.68).

Wednesday: Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m., YES Network & MLB Network (out of market). RHP Sonny Gray (4-4, 5.50) vs. RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-1, 3.32).

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.