Mets’ Luis Severino falters in sixth inning after cruising via NLDS Sport 2

PHILADELPHIA — Luis Severino reached again.

A bulldog of a starter who remained wholesome all season for the primary time since 2018 had slightly bit extra left within the tank in his thirty third flip of the yr.

In his sixth inning of labor, the righty knew the risk Bryce Harper posed and delivered a 99-mph fastball, the toughest pitch of his afternoon and the third-fastest pitch he has thrown all yr.

Harper’s greatest, although, was higher.

Severino was glorious for 5 innings and hit arduous twice within the sixth, as soon as by Harper, as a part of a 7-6, Sport 2 loss to the Phillies at Residents Financial institution Park on Sunday.

Severino rolled for 5 innings till he abruptly halted within the sixth.

Supervisor Carlos Mendoza trusted his starter the third time via the Phillies lineup partly as a result of he simply trusted him, he mentioned, and partly as a result of he had restricted choices in an overworked bullpen.

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Within the game-changing inning for Severino, he recorded two fast outs earlier than Trea Turner singled.

Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner visited Severino with a message of “being cautious” with Harper, Severino mentioned, and never giving him a lot to hit.

On Sept. 14 in Philadelphia, Harper had upturned Severino’s outing by blasting homers within the fourth and sixth.

Severino was not cautious sufficient, and it occurred once more: Harper was prepared for an amped-up Severino, turning 99 mph down the center right into a titanic shot that bounced off the bushes in heart an estimated 431 toes away.

“I used to be making an attempt to go up and away,” Severino mentioned. “Making an attempt to throw a function pitch away, nevertheless it went to the center.”

A sleeping, sellout crowd was jolted awake and nonetheless deafening two pitches later, when the amount was cranked up once more.

Nick Castellanos demolished a sweeper that bought an excessive amount of of the plate 425 toes to left-center, tying a sport that the Mets would lose with Edwin Diaz and Tylor Megill on the mound within the eighth and ninth.

Severino lastly escaped the inning, concluding a six-inning, three-run outing wherein he allowed as many hits within the sixth (three) as he had within the first 5 innings mixed.

“The best way he was throwing the baseball, I don’t care about third time via [the order], he’s pitching very well,” mentioned Mendoza, who felt his fingers have been tied by the depleted bullpen. “And … if I pull him early, then they’ll must cowl 12 outs, and that wasn’t the case right now.”

The outing was a difficult one for Severino not simply due to his rising workload however as a result of he had confronted this Phillies lineup twice in mid-September, the familiarity typically favoring the batters.

However for 5 innings, it had appeared the benefit belonged to the pitcher. Severino was ready for an offense that, whereas mighty, is just not terribly disciplined.

The Phillies chased pitches out of the strike zone the seventh-most in baseball this season, and Severino lived on the perimeters and off the plate.

He was largely untouched till he threw his quickest pitch of the sport and watched it get obliterated.

“Doesn’t matter how arduous you throw it,” Severino mentioned. “They’ll hit it again even tougher.”