BOSTON -- Components of Luis Severino's game were certainly in working order as he made his first start for the Yankees since May 13, but in the end, some mistakes with his offerings proved costly in a 5-3 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.
Returning to the rotation after making three relief appearances since his return from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre, the right-hander retired seven of the first eight batters he faced on the night and had his fastball working in the high 90s.
But with a 2-0 lead in tow, Severino began leaving some of his better offerings in the wrong part of the strike zone and the Red Sox took advantage in the third with three straight hits that culminated in Dustin Pedroia smoking a 98-mph fastball down the right-field line to plate two and tie the game.

"He just made some mistakes with some pitches," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "The fastball to Pedroia was kind of belt-high middle where he hit it. He left a couple of fastballs up."
Working with a good slider, Severino tossed a 1-2-3 fourth, but he was again on the wrong side of things in the fifth as a leadoff triple by Sandy Leon was quickly followed by an Andrew Benintendi double to open the floodgates for three more Boston runs.

"The slider was good at times and not as consistent as it was the other night," said Girardi. "I thought he battled. This is a tough lineup. If you don't make your pitches, they're going to make you pay."
Lasting just 4 1/3 innings, the outing was Severino's third shortest of the season from the starter's role, as he allowed five runs and seven hits on the night.
"Every starter wants to win," said Severino, who fell to 1-7 on the year. "I'll battle back."
Despite the outcome, Girardi found some positive takeaways from his starter's outing and both will look to build off of that moving forward.
"I know that the linescore is he gave up some runs, but there were some good things I saw tonight," Girardi said. "But again, he made some mistakes and they make him pay."