Yankees Starters Flop in First Test vs Red Sox

            The New York Yankees had their pitching rotation’s purported top-3 starters—Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka and Sonny Gray—aligned for their midweek series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

            All three fell flat on their faces versus their division rivals.

            Severino, the ace of the staff, relinquished five runs in five innings in the series opener. After posting a 1.38 ERA in his first two starts, he allowed a run to score in the first and three more in the second frame as Boston cruised to an eventual 14-1 victory.

Severino had a disappointing outing versus the Red Sox on Tuesday. (Michael Dwyer/AP)

            Aaron Boone, the rookie manager, even suggested the 24-year-old Severino may have been tipping his pitches.

             "We've addressed certain things in the past," Boone told The New York Post. "We've noticed things from time to time. We're always as vigilant as we can be with what he may or may not be doing."

            Although the Yankees won the next game—a contest highlighted by the brawl sparked by Boston’s reliever Joe Kelly and New York’s Tyler Austin—Tanaka was far from sharp on the mound. After the offense gifted him an 8-1 lead, Tanaka let the Red Sox back in striking distance after surrendering a grand slam to Red Sox newcomer J.D. Martinez in a five-run fifth inning. Tanaka managed to get the win, despite giving up six runs in five innings, but the Yankees couldn’t have been encouraged by his performance.

            Gray had the worst showing of the three. He gave up six runs and only lasted three innings, forcing the bullpen into a heavy duty day of work. The relievers registered five scoreless innings, but Gray dug the Yankees too big of a hole to recover as a late rally in the ninth fell short in a 6-3 defeat.

Gray struggled at a rainy Fenway Park on Thursday night. (Winslow Townson/AP)

            Boone recognized Gray’s struggles and noted how the right-hander will be a determining factor in the Yankees success this season.

            “It’s frustrating because he’s really important for us and we know what he’s capable of,” Boone said. “He’s coming off an outing where he gave us six strong innings and we feel like it will turn around for him, but tonight wasn’t the night.”

            The rotation was not expected to be the strong suit of the Yankees. The strengths of this team lie in the power hitting of the middle of the lineup and its top-notch bullpen. But the Yankees’ rotation can’t be this weak of a link if they are truly to contend for a championship.

          The starters have to perform better than this, especially against a Red Sox club that figures to be the Yankees’ biggest competition in the American League East.