NEW YORK — Luis Severino screamed and pumped his fists as he stomped from the mound at the end of the fifth inning on Sunday evening, having slipped a slider past Luis Robert to escape what had been a bases-loaded, none-out threat just minutes earlier.
It was an impressive display of pitching and defense, with Severino having induced a pair of forceouts at home plate, but it was not enough. As in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, the Yankees could not support a terrific performance by their starter, handcuffed by Michael Kopech in a 5-0 loss to the White Sox at Yankee Stadium.
“That’s going to happen, you know?” Severino said. “He’s been outstanding this year, and I feel like it’s my job to do the same thing. I need to give my [team a] chance to win every time they give me the ball, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
The sweep snapped the Yanks’ nine-series winning streak. Kopech carried a perfect game into the sixth inning, broken up by Rob Brantly, who was summoned from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday when outfielder Joey Gallo and catcher Kyle Higashioka were both placed on the COVID-19 injured list.
While Kopech was dominant, permitting only that one hit to Brantly — a Minor League roommate in 2017 — the Yankees’ big bats managed just one run through 18 innings of twin-bill action. That came on Aaron Judge’s Major League-leading 15th home run in the eighth inning of Game 1, which tied the score in an eventual 3-1 loss.
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