Luis Severino: Alex Bregman Got 'Lucky' on Decisive Home Run in ALCS Game 2
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With the way the Yankees have been swinging the bat in the postseason, Alex Bregman's three-run home run off Luis Severino in the third inning created what felt like an insurmountable deficit.
Bregman used his compact swing to hook an 0-2 fastball on the inside corner over the left-field wall in Houston, getting just enough of it to send the line drive into the Crawford Boxes.
The three-run shot for Bregman left his bat at just 91.8 mph. It had an expected batting average of .040.
Television cameras showed Severino shaking his head as he walked back to the mound, retrieving a new baseball while Bregman circled the bases. He thought he made a good pitch in that spot and was taken aback that the Bregman was able to leave the yard.
"I mean, he hit it at 91 [mph]," Severino told reporters after the game. "That's the only thing that I'm going to say. Judge hit it at 106 and it didn't go out. They got lucky."
Severino was referring to a ball that Aaron Judge smacked to the wall in right field in the top of the eighth, early giving the Yankees the lead with a go-ahead, two-run home run. Instead, the 106.3-mph line drive died as it approached the right-field wall, allowing Kyle Tucker to leap and haul it in.
The roof at Minute Maid Park was open on Thursday night, creating gusts of wind in the direction of left field.
"The wind was blowing," Severino said. "That was the only reason that ball got out. I made a good pitch in that situation there and that's it."
Severino wasn't the only Yankee to speak about the wind in Houston after the game. Judge, who stood in the outfield for eight innings and played the entire game on Wednesday (when the roof was closed), explained that gusts "were blowing pretty hard out to left field." Yankees manager Aaron Boone went a step further, claiming that the roof being open "killed" New York in Game 2.
"Tip your cap a little bit, too," Boone told reporters, speaking about the decisive pitch to Bregman. "I don't think he got it up as much as he wanted to. He got it to the edge, though. He just kind of cut it off a little bit. He probably got it off the end a little bit because he kind of raced to it because he did get it to the corner. I think he just wanted it a little more up."
Other than the home run, Severino was solid, giving his team a chance to win. The right-hander pitched 5.1 innings in the loss, striking out six while allowing five hits. He walked one batter.
Of all the Yankees that spoke about Bregman's home run, Kyle Higashioka had the best vantage point, crouching behind the plate. The catcher said he knew it was gone off the bat because of where the fly ball was headed.
Still, Higashioka agreed with Severino. He didn't think it was a poorly-placed pitch. It was just a case of a hitter muscling one over a fence that's closer to home plate than other stadiums.
That's especially ironic for the Yankees, a team that hits countless home runs at Yankee Stadium every season that are outs in other ballparks.
"It wasn't a terrible pitch at all," Higashioka said. "I guess in a perfect world it could be higher, but I think even he'll admit he didn't really hit it well off the bat. He hit it well enough to get it out. That's just how it goes sometimes."
New York had their chances to score more runs in this game. They could've made Bregman's home run an afterthought by coming back in the final few innings. Instead, the Yankees continued to struggle miserably on offense, striking out 13 times with just four base hits.
Their two runs came after Astros starter Framber Valdez bobbled a comebacker, throwing it into right field in the fourth. New York took advantage of the double error, pushing two runs across, but they managed just one base hit and two walks over the final five innings.
On the other side, New York's bullpen held Houston down, keeping the deficit at just one run. The fact that they were in striking distance all night long made Thursday night's loss even more infuriating.
"For us to just get beat by one swing of the bat, it's kind of tough to swallow," Higashioka said.
MORE:
- Why Haven’t the Yankees Used Domingo Germán?
- Matt Carpenter Focuses on Positives After Striking Out Four Times Against Astros
- Yankees' Bullpen Falters While Offense Vanishes in Series-Opening Loss to Astros
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