BALTIMORE — Luis Severino had been fine for the most part this season, but he had yet to find his pre-injury All-Star form for an entire outing.
Until Monday night.
The righthander, who totaled only 18 regular-season innings in the previous three seasons because of a variety of injuries, was flat-out dominant in the Yankees' 6-2 victory over the Orioles in front of 12,228 at Camden Yards.
Severino, 2-0 with a 4.08 ERA in six starts coming in, allowed one run and one hit — the first of Anthony Santander's two home runs — in six innings in which he walked two and struck out seven.
Jonathan Loaisiga and Chad Green got the ball to Aroldis Chapman, who allowed Santander’s second homer of the night, which made it 6-2. Still, the pitchers’ efforts helped the Yankees (26-9), who have won 21 of their last 25 games, improve upon the American League-best 2.74 ERA they brought into the game.
Light-hitting catcher Jose Trevino, who had two hits, struck the big blow, an opposite-field three-run homer in the fourth. It was his first homer of the season and the first hit by the catching position this season for the Yankees, the last team without a homer from its catcher.
Josh Donaldson (No. 5) and Anthony Rizzo (No. 10) went back-to-back in the ninth to make it 6-1. Rizzo hadn't homered since April 29, when he hit his ninth in 20 games. He had six hits in his last 54 at-bats entering the ninth.
The Yankees, who outhit the Orioles 11-3, had a scoring chance in the first against Baltimore right Kyle Bradish, who allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
After DJ LeMahieu took a called third strike that appeared low — and LeMahieu, who rarely says much to umpires, did in this case — Donaldson walked but Rizzo struck out looking at a full-count, 95-mph fastball. Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk and Gleyber Torres reached on an infield single to load the bases for a resurgent Joey Gallo. The outfielder, 9-for-30 in his previous 11 games, got ahead 2-and-0 before getting called on strikes to end the 30-pitch inning.
The Orioles (14-22) threatened in the bottom half but were turned away. When leadoff man Cedric Mullins lifted one toward the line in left, Gallo drifted over and saw the ball bang off his glove for a three-base error. Severino walked Trey Mancini but recovered, with the help of Torres coupled with some poor baserunning. Santander hit a soft, broken-bat liner that Torres, ranging far to his left, made a diving catch on. Mancini took off for second and was easily doubled off. Ramon Urias grounded to third to end the 23-pitch inning.
The Yankees took the lead in the third. Donaldson singled with one out and was replaced at first when Rizzo grounded into a 4-6 force. Stanton rifled an RBI double — which came off his bat at 114.2 mph — into the gap in left-center to make it 1-0. Stanton came into the game 24-for-65 (.369) with eight homers and 23 RBIs in his previous 17 games.
The Yankees opened it up in the fourth. Torres made it a 2-for-2 night with a leadoff single and, after Gallo struck out, Isiah Kiner-Falefa reached on an infield single.Trevino, who came in hitting .170, lined a drive to rightfield that clanked off the foul pole to make it 4-0.
Santander pulled the Orioles within 4-1 in the bottom half, leading off by crushing a 1-and-2 slider to right for his fifth homer. Severino walked the next batter, then retired nine straight to conclude his outing, having thrown 95 pitches.
Loaisiga, who has struggled of late, allowed a leadoff single in the seventh to former Yankee Rougned Odor, but Tyler Nevin, the son of former big-leaguer and former Yankees third base coach Phil Nevin, grounded into a 6-3 double play. Loaisiga struck out Ryan McKenna looking at a 99-mph sinker for the third out.
