Young Reds starter Hunter Greene had some nasty stuff early on Sunday morning in Cincinnati, but the Yankees made their four hits against him count. Homers from Harrison Bader and Gleyber Torres put New York ahead, and the Bombers won Luis Severino’s much-anticipated season debut, 4-1.
Luis Severino’s return was worth the wait. It took longer than initially expected when he strained his lat in the final week of spring training, and he is still not all the way built up after an abbreviated rehab assignment.
But working on a pitch count of 75, Severino got stronger as his season debut went on. The right-hander struck out five over 4 innings of one-run ball, retiring nine of the final 10 batters he faced in an encouraging outing overall.
“I feel pretty good,” Severino said. “Feel like I was attacking the zone after the first walk. But everything else was really good.”
Severino also built up his velocity as the game went on, averaging 96.7 mph with his fastball but topping out at 98.6 mph on a strikeout of Kevin Newman in the fifth inning.
Game Break 