The first inning was a labor. The slider was flat. The Rays scored. But Yankees righty Luis Severino then received almost immediate offensive support. And he made an adjustment.
Things then got boring for the Yankees fielders.
“Oh, man. Find something to do out there because you’re not going to get many hard-hit balls,” said Giancarlo Stanton whose two-run first-inning homer gave Severino the lead that never vanished. “Dominant. Par for the course.”
So Severino, adjusting his slider, worked into the eighth inning, surrendered all of five hits, one walk and two earned runs while mowing down seven to lift his record to 2-0 as the Yankees dumped the Rays, 7-2, in a game delayed at the start by bad weather at the Stadium.