After inducing a double play to end a scoreless first inning, Luis Severino bounced off the mound with his usual swagger. A gold-colored chain swinging from his neck, Severino smacked his glove with his right hand. The Yankees’ best starting pitcher was back.

In a 2019 season debut delayed by shoulder and latissimus dorsi injuries, Severino, 25, looked much like his old self on Tuesday. He fired 97-mile-per-hour fastballs past batters. His secondary pitches danced toward the plate. He spun four scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels and collected four strikeouts in an 8-0 Yankees win as he prepared for the playoffs.

“It’s been a long road back, but I’m here now and healthy, and I can help my team,” Severino said.

The joy surrounding the return of Severino, a two-time All-Star, was severely curbed after the game when the Yankees announced that Dellin Betances, their four-time All-Star reliever, had sustained what was probably a season-ending partial tear of his left Achilles’ tendon during his 2019 debut on Sunday.

Until this week Betances, like Severino, had missed all of the season with shoulder and latissimus dorsi injuries. But after he struck out both batters he faced in Toronto, he did the small celebratory hop he had done so many times before. That is when he hurt his tendon, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said.