Tonight was an exciting night for the New York Yankees, who would see the return of Luis Gil to the Major Leagues after missing the majority of the 2022 season and nearly all of 2023 with a UCL tear. Following a four-game sweep of the Houston Astros, the Bronx Bombers would suit up against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field for a three-game series. Hoping to extend the winning streak to five, the Yankees would try to rattle Ryne Nelson, who would be the starter of choice for the reigning National League champions.
Although it wasn’t a dramatic come-from-behind victory, the Yankees were able to get the job done once more, as they chased Nelson early and got a brilliant performance from Luis Gil in their 5-2 win.
Anthony Volpe Has Career Night in Yankees Victory
It was a tough day to be a hater of Anthony Volpe, who mashed a career-best four hits including two doubles and an RBI, going a perfect 4-4 in his stellar night. The second-year shortstop has gotten off to a blistering start to open his season, hitting .571 with a league-best .667 OBP through his first four games of the season. It’s still very early, but coming off of a solid Spring Training, he’s had about as encouraging of a start as you possibly can coming off of a below-.700 OPS season.
His offensive efforts would be backed up by some timely hits from Gleyber Torres, who brought in his first RBI of the season with two hits, and an RBI single from Oswaldo Cabrera as well, who has been a godsend for the Bronx Bombers. Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Anthony Rizzo all combined for just one hit and three walks, and yet the Yankees were still able to throw up five runs on the scoreboard by the third inning, giving their starter the breathing room he needed to excel.
Luis Gil was marvelous across his 4.2 innings of work, holding the Diamondbacks to just one run across 4.2 innings pitched while striking out six batters in the process. His command was spotty as he walked three batters as well, but he fought through suboptimal command to overpower some of the better hitters the National League has to offer. Entering this game, the Diamondbacks had scored 32 runs in their first eight games, but Gil silenced them in the Arizona night.
Coming in relief would be Luke Weaver, who battled through 2.1 innings of one-run baseball, and while it wasn’t always pretty, he did an excellent job saving this bullpen. Nick Burdi and Victor Gonzalez would fire a scoreless inning each, and the Yankees are now 5-0 on the season coming off of five really well-played contests. You’d like to see Aaron Judge get rolling and for some of the bats to do more damage on contact, but the plate discipline has been superb.
The Yankees drew five walks and struck out just four times, knocking their starter out before he even completed three innings of work in the process, making Arizona pitchers throw 142 pitches in the contest. Game two of this series kicks off at the same time (9:40 PM EST) tomorrow night as Nestor Cortes duels Zac Gallen in the desert.