Redemption


Luis Severino again proved his "ace-ness" with Monday night's dominating performance over the Indians.

The Yankees young ace rebounded from his brief and painful start in the American League's Wild Card playoff game six nights earlier.

Effective from the start, Severino hardly gave the Indians a chance to gain any traction. Instead, his Yankees teammates hit the accelerator pedal early, building a 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning -- and reducing whatever pressure Severino felt. While the Indians dinged him for home runs from Carlos Santana and Roberto Perez, Severino basically owned the night and forced the ALDS to Wednesday's fifth and decided game.

Sevy also credited veteran Masahiro Tanaka, who stopped the Indians the night before, with helping him prepare mentally. Severino never looked scared or worried -- he was the same confident pitcher who became an All Star and will certainly garner some second or third-place Cy Young Award votes.

And a shout out this morning to another of baseball's breakout stars. Cody Bellinger was the Dodgers big bat Monday, as they closed a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks. His RBI double off Zach Greinke in the top of the 1st gave LA an instant lead; his opposite field homer in the 5th doubled their margin, and also made him -- at 22 years and 88 days --  the youngest Dodger ever to hit a post-season home run.
The image of Severino is from the Yankees/Indians game on August 28th; I caught Bellinger against the Mets on August 5th.

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