'Nothing was working' for struggling Severino

BALTIMORE -- The first five batters had reached base, three of them scoring, as Luis Severino reared back to fire his 17th pitch. The outing already had the markings of being brief and ineffective, and when Adam Frazier blasted that fastball for a three-run homer, the Yankees pitcher jerked his neck toward Camden Yards’ right-field wall for a better look.

For weeks, the Yankees have been digging deep to cure what ails Severino, who swears that he is healthy and has intermittently suspected that he may be tipping his pitches. The Orioles clearly had no issues identifying hittable offerings, batting around for seven first-inning runs as New York accepted a 9-3 defeat on Sunday night.

“I feel like I’m the worst pitcher in the game, no doubt about it,” Severino said.

Opening a make-or-break week that may determine the front office’s path as buyers or sellers ahead of Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, the Yankees clocked out of the finale early, with Severino trudging off the mound after facing 11 batters in the first inning.

“This is a tough one, but nothing stops,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to get back on the horse tomorrow. You’ve got to be ready to go.”

Severino received sarcastic applause from a sizable contingent of Interstate 95-hardy Yankees fans after recording his first out, a swinging strikeout of No. 7 hitter Ramón Urías.

“I was terrible,” Severino said. “Nothing was working today. My fastball command was leaking all over the place, throwing to both sides, going in. The cutter was OK, but this is a good lineup. You can’t make mistakes.”

Severino allowed seven runs or more for the third time in five July starts, having also endured noncompetitive efforts on July 1 at St. Louis and July 6 vs. the Orioles.

The righty permitted 10 hits over 3 1/3 innings, seeing his ERA swell from 6.46 to 7.49, and said that “right now, I feel like I’m not even contributing to this team.” With Nestor Cortes due back from the injured list after one more Minor League rehab start, Severino’s grip on a rotation spot may be slipping.

“He’s coming off two good ones,” Boone said, referring to Severino’s starts against the Angels and Royals. “We’ve got to continue to look under the hood and see why that high level of execution isn’t there. Right now, we’re just going to continue to focus and work on that.”

It was a disappointing thud of a conclusion to a weekend in which Aaron Judge’s return to the lineup sparked some hope, with the reigning American League MVP stating that he “wouldn’t count us out yet” from making a run toward the postseason.

Judge watched from the bench as his club dropped the finale, with showdowns against the Rays and Astros still to come. The first-place Orioles secured the season series over New York, 7-6, the first time since 2016 that Baltimore has done so.

“The first game, we put ourselves in some good positions to drive in runs,” said first baseman Anthony Rizzo. “Give credit to the Orioles for making good plays; they won a hard-fought game. Yesterday was fun seeing Judgie do what Judgie does. Today, the first inning was tough. We battled and put ourselves in a position to rely on a big home run, but we just couldn’t put ourselves in striking distance.”

Jake Bauers homered and drove in two runs for the Yankees, who chased Baltimore starter Dean Kremer in the fifth inning yet set a season high with 18 strikeouts -- the club’s most since fanning 18 times on April 3, 2019, vs. Detroit.

“We’re behind the eight ball early, and that makes it tough,” Boone said. “Outside of the strikeouts, I thought the at-bats were building off of last night. I thought we grinded it out really well. We made it really tough on Kremer; we couldn’t finish it off.”

The 18th strikeout was a Rizzo whiff that completed a “platinum sombrero” of five strikeouts in a single game -- the first of Rizzo’s career, and the Yankees’ first since Judge on May 5. 2021, vs. Houston.

“It’s fixable in one swing, really,” Rizzo said. “That’s the game of baseball. That’s the beauty of it. When you’re going through it, it’s not fun, but you’ve got to take the small wins. Obviously, five punchouts in a game is very rare for me, and in general. Hopefully, that’s the turning point.”