The self-described “worst pitcher in the game” didn’t embarrass himself Friday night, although he flirted with doing so.
That was the nicest thing that could be said about Luis Severino’s latest non-competitive start.
Any momentum the Yankees had after consecutive wins was snuffed out after Severino was touched up for three first-inning runs in the Astros’ easy 7-3 victory in The Bronx.
The offense produced three solo homers in an otherwise quiet night and the Yankees fell back to 3 ¹/₂ games behind the Blue Jays for the final American League wild-card spot.
Severino failed to record an out in the fifth inning for the fourth time in six starts this season as the Yankees fell to 3-8 in his last 11 outings.
The right-hander had been hoping August would be kinder to him than July, when he pitched to an astronomical 11.22 ERA.
But it was more of the same Friday.
He had poor command, his fastball was tattooed and he looked like a pitcher without any confidence.
Five days after getting tagged for seven runs on seven hits in the first inning by the Orioles, Severino (2-6) allowed three runs in the first inning Friday night.
Yainer Diaz’s opposite-field three-run home run put the Yankees in a deep hole and made it five extra-base hits allowed by Severino in the opening frame of his past two starts.
Severino seemed on the edge of a complete collapse after he forcing in a run by hitting Alex Bregman with a 3-2 pitch in the second inning.
He had thrown 17 balls in 34 pitches, he was hearing boos and Albert Abreu was warming up in the bullpen.
But Severino dug deep to strike out Yordan Alvarez and retire Kyle Tucker on a lineout to left.
Those two outs at least let him keep the Yankees within striking distance, and he followed that up with zeroes in the third and fourth innings.
Alvarez got to Severino in the fifth, taking a low-and-away slider over the left-center field wall for his 20th homer of the season.
That ended Severino’s night to more boos and with his ERA a sky-high 7.74.
That would be the highest in baseball by a considerable margin, but Severino doesn’t qualify because he has only thrown 61 ²/₃ innings after he missed the first two months of the season due to a strained lat muscle.
The highest mark by an eligible pitcher currently belongs to Lance Lynn with a 6.32 ERA.
Jake Bauers got the Yankees on the board in the third inning with his 10th homer of the season, which bounced off the left-field foul pole.
They had nearly plated two runs in the first, but Jake Meyers robbed Billy McKinney with a scintillating diving catch in front of the left-field fence.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa added a solo home run in the fifth, but that was all the damage the Yankees could manage against young Astros righty Hunter Brown.
Giancarlo Stanton added his third homer in as many games in the eighth inning.