Luis Severino, Didi Gregorius lead Yankees over Braves, 3-1

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Updated: August 30, 2015

ATLANTA — It wasn’t the slugfest the Yankees produced Friday night, but thanks to another strong outing by Luis Severino, the end result was just the same.

The hard-throwing rookie fired six shutout innings while Didi Gregorius delivered another big hit, leading the Yankees to a 3-1 win over the Braves Saturday night at Turner Field.

Severino (2-2) turned in the finest performance of his young career, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out five over his six scoreless frames to win his second consecutive start. The 21-year-old lowered his ERA to 2.17 over his first five starts.

“I feel good about it when he takes the mound,” Joe Girardi said. “I like what he’s done from day one. His starts have not been necessarily easy starts. He’s handled it extremely well. He continues to impress us.”

Gregorius, who went 4-for-5 with a home run and six RBI in Friday night’s romp, had a key RBI double in the seventh inning Saturday night, providing a much-needed insurance run. Gregorius is 7-for-13 with nine RBI in his last three games.

John Bazemore/AP

Luis Severino continues to impress at the major league level, throwing six scoreless innings against the Braves on Saturday.

“He’s on another streak,” Girardi said. “I joked after we went on that road trip when he was so hot (a few weeks ago) that I was going to get him a hotel room in New York. He’s just improved tremendously.”

The game also featured a ghastly scene as a fan fell about 50 feet from the upper deck in the seventh inning, landing in between two field-level sections roughly 30 rows behind home plate that included family members and friends of players from both teams. The fan was treated by paramedics and taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

“It’s sickening,” said Brian McCann, whose family was seated in one of those sections.

The Yankees remain 1.5 games behind the first-place Blue Jays in the AL East as Toronto won for the 23rd time in its last 28 games. The Bombers maintained their four-game lead over the Rangers as the AL’s top wild-card team.

“We scored 15 runs yesterday and it’s going the right way right now,” Gregorius said. “That’s what we want, for that momentum to keep going forward.”

Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images

Didi Gregorius comes through with another big hit with an RBI double in the seventh.

The Yankees started off fast against righthander Matt Wisler, opening the game in similar fashion to Friday night’s blowout.

Jacoby Ellsbury doubled, then McCann and Greg Bird drew two-out walks, loading the bases. Wisler unleashed a wild pitch to score Ellsbury for a 1-0 Yankees lead, but the righty worked out of the jam by striking out Chase Headley.

Unlike Williams Perez the previous night, Wisler settled down after his shaky first, allowing only one hit over the next five innings.

Severino made the run stand up, working out of minor jams in the first, fourth and sixth before being pinch-hit for in the seventh despite throwing only 88 pitches.

“If it’s an American League game, he’s still out there,” Girardi said. “We debated long and hard about that.”

John Bazemore/AP

Andrew Miller picks up the save in the Yankees’ 3-1 win.

“He was lights out,” McCann said. “He did whatever he wanted to do tonight.”

The Yankees tacked on an important insurance run in the seventh as Headley and Gregorius led off the frame with back-to-back doubles.

“I’m just trying to see the ball and hit the ball,” Gregorius said. “I’m feeling good, so I’m just trying to keep it up.”

Justin Wilson allowed two hits and committed a fielding error in the bottom of the seventh that helped the Braves cut the lead to 2-1, but Dellin Betances retired Freddie Freeman with two runners on base to protect the lead.

McCann added another insurance run with an RBI double in the eighth, pushing the lead back to two.

Betances put the tying runs on base with two out in the eighth before catching Andrelton Simmons looking at strike three to end the inning. Andrew Miller closed it out with a scoreless ninth for his 28th save of the season.

“Just winning ballgames from here on out is important,” McCann said. “That’s where our mind-set is; we need to win as many ballgames as we possibly can.”

Baseball – NY Daily News