Yankees pitcher hits AL East team with drive-by talking about Astros fans

New York Yankees pitcher Luis Severino took the time to throw some shade at one of his AL East rivals.

The New York Yankees clinched their spot in the American League Championship Series with a 5-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 5 of the AL Division Series on Tuesday. After their win, they had to travel to Houston to take on their hated rivals in the Astros for Game 1 on Wednesday.

While speaking with the media, pitcher Luis Severino answered a question about being in a hostile environment in Houston. Severino downplayed it, saying that the Yankees are hated nearly everywhere they travel. One exception is Tampa Bay, because the Rays “don’t have a lot of fans.”

The quote comes from FOX Sports’ Deesha Thosar.

Luis Severino throws shade at Rays before ALCS Game 1 vs. Astros

The Rays, who were eliminated in the Wild Card round, got hit by an RKO outta nowhere by Severino. Shoutout to the professional wrestling fans that understand this reference.

When it comes to the Rays, they do not exactly draw a crowd at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. This season, per Baseball Reference, the Rays have had an average of 13,927 fans per game, the third lowest average in all of baseball. The only teams with worse averages are Miami Marlins (11,204) and the Oakland Athletics (9,849).

The Yankees faced off against the Rays 19 times this season, and they emerged victorious in 11 of those games.

The Rays were swept in the first round by the Guardians, which set up a highly-contested ALDS against the Yankees. Cleveland had a 2-1 series lead over New York but dropped the final two games of the series.

Now, the Yankees will look to finally conquer the Astros in the postseason. Meanwhile, the Rays were just minding their own business before they were hit with a blindside jab by Severino.