A’s ace says he is struggling to pitch at home after getting crushed by Yankees
The ace of the A’s pitching staff is still trying to figure out how to get comfortable playing in the team’s new home ballpark in West Sacramento.
“It’s tough to pitch here,” Luis Severino said Sunday. “You’re just not used to (it) — you have a routine. You have a routine your whole life, then you come here and just (have to) work around whatever you have here.”
Severino was speaking after giving up eight earned runs over four-plus innings to his former team, the New York Yankees, in a 12-2 blowout loss that began with allowing five runs in the second inning at Sutter Health Park. It continued an unwelcome trend for the right-hander who signed a three-year, $67 million contract and is under contract for the team’s expected stay in the capital region.
Severino’s ERA in home games after Sunday ballooned to 6.75 after in six starts, compared to a 0.95 ERA over three appearances on the road.
“There’s no question that I think he’s dealing with that,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “That’s something we’re going to help with and try to dive into. Any time a player talks about it, this place in terms of being less confident, uncomfortable, we’ll end up having that conversation and see how we can turn that mindset around and create a positive mindset about what we’re capable of doing here.”
Perhaps the biggest change for players’ routines at Sutter Health Park is the clubhouse, weight rooms and training areas being disconnected from the dugout. In standard Major League stadiums, the clubhouse is typically underneath the grandstand and a short walk to and from the dugout.
But at Sutter Health Park, the clubhouse and player facilities are beyond the left field wall, meaning starters pitchers must stay in the dugout between innings. Sutter Health Park, of course, was built to house the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats and is being used temporarily by the A’s while they hope to begin construction on a new stadium in Las Vegas after they elected not to continue playing at the Oakland Coliseum when the lease expired after last season.
Severino said in other ballparks he often goes into the clubhouse or workout areas between innings to stay loose.
“If you watch every starting pitcher, you don’t see them in the dugout,” Severino said. “Usually you go inside, watch the game on TV, get on the (exercise) bike a little bit... It’s just different. Everybody’s different. For me, it’s being able to have the gym closer. If something’s happening, let me get on the bike, get my legs moving. Let me do something before I go out there.”
Severino exited after allowing the first two hitters to reach base in the fifth inning. He was replaced by Mitch Spence, who allowed a grand slam to lead-off hitter Ben Rice later in the frame. It was Rice’s first-career grand slam. The Yankees hit around in the second and fifth innings, scoring five runs in each.
New York beat the A’s on Friday and Sunday by a combined score of 22-4 while the A’s won Saturday’s game, 11-7. Sunday’s loss capped a 2-4 home stand against the Yankees and Mariners, both first place teams. It won’t get easier this week with a trip to play the Los Angeles Dodgers (27-14) beginning Tuesday before going to San Francisco for three games against the Giants (24-17) next weekend.
“It was a tough home stand for sure,” Kotsay said. “We could have easily been 4-2 on this home stand instead of 2-4, and we’ll learn from this home stand.”
The Yankees sent 10 hitters to the plate and scored five runs in the second-inning, two coming on a bases-loaded single from Aaron Judge, who had four hits on the day before being lifted in the eighth. Judge was one of four Yankees with multiple hits while the A’s didn’t have any.
Judge for the series had eight hits in 14 at-bats and improved his batting average to .409. He had two home runs, two doubles, five RBI and scored four runs.
A’s pitcher leaves with injury
Left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland suffered a left groin injury while covering first base on a ground out and exited after facing just one batter. Kotsay said he’ll undergo an MRI before the team plays the Dodgers Tuesday.
“Hopefully we’ll get some good news and it won’t be an extended IL stint,” Kotsay said.
McFarland led baseball with 79 appearances last season and had 17 this year. The 35-year-old hasn’t allowed a run in eight straight appearances — and has done so just once in his last 12.
The A’s bullpen came into Sunday’s game having blown four saves in the previous seven games while relievers’ ERA was fifth worst in the Majors at 5.04.
This story was originally published May 11, 2025 at 5:49 PM.
