NEW YORK _ Luis Severino reportedly started late his bullpen session prior to Game 3 of the ALDS. At least he showed up for that, though.
When it came to the actual game, Severino was a complete no show.
Severino's postseason struggles continued with the righty allowing six runs in three-plus innings in the 16-1 loss to Boston at Yankee Stadium. Severino exited the game to a chorus of boos, and now has a 6.26 ERA in six postseason starts.
Severino, the Yankees ace apparently in name only, had a chance to put the 108-win Red Sox in a tough spot, but he may not even have began his warm-ups on time.
The TBS crew reported that Severino did not begin warming up until 7:32 p.m., only 10 minutes before first pitch. Pitchers often start their warm-ups about 25-30 minutes before a start. A 10-minute window does not leave much time to get ready.
Unlike his wild-card start, Severino looked shaky from the start, and it served as preview of things to come.
Mookie Betts hit the first ball roughly 405 feet but it was tracked down at the wall, and Xander Bogaerts ended the inning with another long fly out that traveled 387 feet.
Boston scratched across a run in the second on a two-out single by Christian Vazquez, and Severino struggled the rest of the way.
Three singles gave Boston a 3-0 lead in the third, and after Aaron Boone allowed Severino to start the fourth, his starter poured kerosene on the game.
Facing the bottom three hitters, Severino allowed a single to Brock Holt, a single to Vazquez, and issued a four-pitch walk to Jackie Bradley Jr.
Boone, finally realizing that Severino did not have it on this night, mercifully pulled the plug on Severino, although inserting Lance Lynn was no upgrade. Lynn walked the next batter and then allowed a bases-clearing double to Andrew Benitendi.
Severino allowed those six earned runs on seven hits while walking two. He was about as effective as backup catcher Austin Romine, who allowed two runs in the ninth.
While Severino's postseason ERA is inflated by his dud in last year's wild-card game, a troubling pattern has emerged in which he can't pitch deep into games.
Tuesday's outing marked his fifth postseason start in which he failed to complete five innings, and he's now allowed at least three runs in four of those starts.
Severino has totaled only 23 innings in his six postseason starts, averaging less than four innings per start, and is averaging roughly 5.5 walks per nine innings.
This postseason, Severino has totaled seven innings in his two starts and frankly has only looked elite in one of them. He mowed down the Athletics in the first inning of the wild-card game, but wiggled out of jams the next few innings.
Making Tuesday all the more damning is that Severino wasted the advantage the Yankees seemingly had after splitting the first two games in Boston. The Yankees had their No. 1 pitcher going at home with a chance to take a series lead, and he instead turned back the clocks to 2004 and offered a Kevin Brown imitation.
Brown is a great pitcher to be compared to, just not when it's regarding his time with the Yankees. After all, prior to Tuesday, Brown was the last pitcher to start a Yankees-Red Sox playoff game in the Bronx, and that one went about as well as Monday's.
With the Yankees now on the verge of elimination, it could be a long time before Severino receives another chance to redeem himself.
