Luis Severino makes his Yankees debut this season with the Reds

Luis Severino has waited nearly two months to make his season debut, and the long-awaited moment will arrive when Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo roll.

Severino returns from a stretch and hopes Judge and Rizzo produce more big hits when New York Yankees going for a three-game sweep of the host Cincinnati Reds Sunday

Severino, who missed two months with the same injury last season, is making his first start since Game 2 of the ALCS at the Houston Astros, a 3-2 loss on Oct. 20. He had seven hitless innings in his last regular season. Texas on October 3rd. That effort capped a season in which he returned from Tommy John surgery to go 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts over 102 innings.

He made two rehab starts and returns to a team that has won 13 of its last 18 games after a 3-2 loss at Cleveland on May 1.

Severino is 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA in two starts They are redwho he faced on July 13 and was injured after allowing three straight home runs in the second

“He’s a great pitcher and I’m looking forward to him coming in and being a part of this rotation,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “I know how it can affect us.”

Boone also knows the impact Judge and Rizzo have been making lately. Judge went 4-4, reached base five times and reached the tying run in the 10th inning before Rizzo hit a two-run homer in Saturday’s 7-4 win.

THE Yankees 9-3 as Judge returned from a short injury list with a strained right hip. Since returning, he’s hitting .378 (17:45) with seven homers and 18 RBI

“I try not to think about getting on a hot streak,” he said. “It’s about going out there and assessing the situation. I’ll see who’s on the mound and what I need to do to help the team.”

Rizzo, who has 24 career homers in Cincinnati, has reached base in 17 of his last 18 games. He’s also hitting .353 (24-for-68) with six homers and 15 RBIs in that span.

“Rizzo was our rock,” Boone said. “He’s been solid to start the year, that’s been consistent, even when we’ve been without Judge for 10 or 11 games.”

In addition to trying to stop Judge and Rizzo, the They are red they will be hoping to avoid a fourth straight loss after conceding 25 times in the first two games of the series. One of those shots came from Jonathan India in the ninth after he fouled a ball off his knee but vowed to play on Sunday.

“Actually, he doesn’t look bad,” Cincinnati manager David Bell said of his second baseman. “It’s not too terrible. The good news is it’s not broken.”

Jake Fraley had an RBI hit and is hitting .355 (22:62) with 22 RBIs in his last 21 games.

THE They are red hope Hunter Greene’s solid showing (0-3, 4.60 ERA) can help erase the disappointment of the previous two games. Greene allowed three runs or fewer in his first eight starts before allowing six runs and nine hits over four innings in a no-decision Monday at Colorado.

Greene has allowed two homers and five over his past three starts after giving up just one to Pittsburgh’s O’Neil Cruz in the season opener.

Greene never faced the Yankees and the only New York hitter he ever faced was Harrison Bader

— Field Level Media