Starter Luis Severino’s no-hitter helped the New York Yankees defeat the Texas Rangers 3-1 on Monday night at Globe Life Field, but slugger Aaron Judge didn’t have the opportunity to hit his 62nd home run. As a result, he only has three games remaining to break Roger Maris’ AL and franchise record of 61 homers.
Judge’s single hit was a check-swing infield single in the sixth inning, extending his on-base streak to 31 games. In terms of Judge’s Triple Crown bid, his season average is now. 311. The 30-year-old outfielder entered Sunday trailing the Minnesota Twins second baseman, Luis Arreaz, who played Monday batting.315.
"When you step in the box, it's time to do your job."
Aaron Judge on the pressure of having all eyes on him during his at-bats. pic.twitter.com/xKrUipm9Bz
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 2, 2022
On Monday, left fielder Marwin Gonzalez homered for the Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton hit his 30th home run in the eighth inning to make it 3-0.
In relief of Severino, Miguel Castro hit out the first batter he encountered, Rangers designated hitter Adolis Garcia. The Rangers’ first hit of the evening came from third baseman Josh Jung, who lined a 98 mph fastball just over the reach of infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Severino stole the show
Severino’s performance overshadowed Judge, who was named American League Player of the Month for September. The Dominican managed to pull off one of the most dominant starts of his career in only his third start back from a lat injury that cost him over two months.
Severino averaged 97.9 mph on 47 fastballs, reaching a top velocity of 100.3 mph. He used 17 changeups, 16 sliders, 11 sinkers, and three cutters in his outing.
The Yankees head to Texas for the last series of the season as they get ready for playoff baseball. pic.twitter.com/uZBTbaiQaH
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 2, 2022
Severino faced the fewest batters in those seven innings and hit 99 mph with his final pitch. Despite the fact that his no-hitter was still intact, Yankees manager Aaron Boone chose to start the eighth from the bullpen.
Severino exited after striking out seven batters on 94 pitches and allowing only one base runner, a one-out walk to Rangers infielder Josh Smith in the third inning, which was erased a batter later by a double play.
The Yankees manager could be seen on the broadcast cameras telling Severino that he couldn’t let him go on. Boone said, “The decision would have been if he was through eight [innings] at that point”.
“Didn’t really want to go more than 90 [pitches] with him. I was going to try and let him finish that seventh inning no matter what,” he said.
“The biggest thing I told him obviously, he wanted to stay in and go back out there and I think he understood I wasn’t going to take him to 120, 125, 130 pitches tonight. And that’s where it probably would have had to go to finish something like that”.
The 28-year-old pitcher expressed his disappointment at being unable to continue playing, saying, “I was trying to fight him, but in the end, you can’t do anything about it”.
He then continued, “He told me, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘I’m coming back out there.’ But it was not a great idea to go out there and push it to 115 pitches”.
“It puts a little damper on the night, honestly,” Boone said regarding taking Severino out. “It’s not a fun thing to have to do. And he’s out there, doing his job at a really high and special level, and to have to be the one that shuts that down it’s not fun but one you gotta do”.
The Yankees’ bullpen still has a lot of issues to work out with three games left in the regular season. The Yankees activated Castro from the injured list on Monday, providing the Yankees with a healthy arm.
Pitcher Ron Marinaccio stayed in New York after leaving Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Orioles due to right shin soreness. According to Boone, doctors were still assessing shin test results Monday night to evaluate Marinaccio’s status.
Ron Marinaccio discusses his lingering shin soreness and what it means for him heading into postseason. pic.twitter.com/ChLSzKKQ5Y
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 2, 2022