Yankees' plan to avoid pitching Severino in first inning backfires in loss to White Sox

CHICAGO — Maybe next time — if there is one — the Yankees will have Luis Severino “start” his next outing in the third inning.

Attempting to fix the badly struggling righthander with some mental sleight of hand, the organization chose to use an opener Wednesday night against the White Sox before inserting Severino, who brought a 13.85 first-inning ERA into the game, in the second inning.

But missing from the calculus by the Yankees’ numbers gurus was the fact his ERA in the other innings wasn’t all that great, either — 4.15 in the second, 8.53 in the third, 4.76 in the fourth, 7.36 in the fifth and 7.36 in the sixth.

It took all of 14 pitches for the move, one a rival scout called “a cheap parlor trick,” to be exposed as folly.

After Ian Hamilton struck out one and walked one in a 10-pitch first, Severino, who showed his issues run far deeper than any specific inning, allowed three of his four runs in the second, which helped send the Yankees to a 9-2 loss to the White Sox in front of 23,377 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“I think it was a good idea,” said Severino, who fell to 2-7 with an 8.06 ERA. “I’ve been having a lot of troubles in the first inning.”

Still, the righthander, who called this “the worst year of my life in baseball,” conceded coming into the game in the second felt “weird” more than anything. “It’s my first inning anyway,” Severino said. “But they’re just looking for ways to win games.”

Kyle Higashioka, who has seen Severino at his best — particularly in 2017 and ’18 when the pitcher was a back-to-back All-Star — said “I wish I knew the answer” to his difficulties.

“I just want more than anything for him to get back to being himself,” Higashioka said. “It seems like [hitters aren’t] really fooled by anything right now.”

Offensively the Yankees (59-56), after producing 13 hits in Tuesday’s 7-1 victory, reverted to what their form has generally been this season at the plate. Though they had their share of chances, the Bombers went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded six. The Yankees, who fell 5 ½ games behind the Blue Jays for the American League’s third wild-card slot, were held in check by Mike Clevinger over six innings as they dropped the series to the horrid White Sox (47-69).

“It’s a tough one,” said Aaron Judge, who went 1-for-3 with one of his five walks in the series. “We had quite a few opportunities with guys on base to put up some runs and help out our pitching staff and we just weren’t able to get the job done.”

The Yankees’ offensive frustration started early when Jake Bauers led off with a single but was thrown out trying to advance to third on Judge’s hard single to center.

Oscar Colas’ two-run homer on a 2-and-2 changeup highlighted Chicago’s three-run second and Yoan Moncada’s RBI double in the third made it 4-0.

Clevinger (5-5, 3.55) allowed one run, three hits and three walks with six strikeouts. The one run came on an RBI groundout in the fourth by Giancarlo Stanton, who added his 18th homer of the season in the seventh (off Jimmy Lambert), which made it 5-2. The White Sox loaded the bases with none out in the eighth against Albert Abreu and Elvis Andrus’ bases-clearing double off Nick Ramirez and an RBI single by Tim Anderson made it 9-2.

The Yankees are off Thursday before starting a three-game series Friday in Miami against the Marlins, one of the National League’s surprise teams. A trip to Atlanta, the team with the best record in the big leagues, follows that.

“We know we have to go on a good run,” Aaron Boone said.

One that needs to start, it goes without saying, soon as the days tick off the season’s calendar.

“No matter where we are in the standings, our goal has to remain the same — we’re trying to win every game. So in that respect, I don’t really think about it,” Higashioka said of the deficit.

“We have the ability to win every game, we just haven’t put it together. We have to figure out a way to do that before it’s too late.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.