After dropping the first two games of this series against the Seattle Mariners, the New York Yankees would pick up a dominant 7-3 win last night, setting them up to try and salvage the series today. With Luis Gil going up against Luis Castillo, the Mariners’ ace, the right-hander would have the task of outdueling one of the game’s very best pitchers to grab his team an important win before they head out on a long trip out West. Thanks to some big-time home runs and another brilliant outing by Luis Gil, the Yankees would walk away from this one with their 35th win of the season.
The offense is clicking, their pitching has been dominant, and this team is firing on all cylinders right now as they pick up another victory.
Aaron Judge’s Power and Luis Gil’s Dominance Guide the Yankees to a Win
It was a familiar sight for the Yankees, who won today thanks to brilliant starting pitching and a powerful offense that can put up runs with just one swing. Giancarlo Stanton would tag Luis Castillo early for a solo blast into Monument Park, his 12th of the season, as the hulking slugger has picked things up as of late. After an ugly 2023 season where he set career lows in wRC+ (89) and SLG% (.420), he’s now up to a 128 wRC+ and .509 SLG%.
Following that second-inning blast was another home run, this one off the bat of Aaron Judge, who has come around to put up the usually dominant numbers we’ve come to expect. He went 2-2 today with a home run, double, and two walks in four trips to the plate. His wRC+ on the season is 187 and he now leads the league in extra-base hits (32) despite the slow start he got off to this season.
Luis Gil brought his A-game today in his duel with Luis Castillo, picking up eight strikeouts to just two walks and one hit over 6.1 scoreless innings. His ERA on the season sits at just 2.11, and he looks like the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year at this point. Mason Miller’s dominant fastball is a tough act to beat, but Gil is certainly putting his best effort forward, as over his last five starts the right-hander has a 0.59 ERA and 31% strikeout rate.
The walk rate is falling, his stuff remains elite, and the Yankees are looking like geniuses for throwing him into the rotation at the end of Spring Training. Anthony Volpe would leg out a hustle double in the seventh and steal third base to set up a perfect RBI opportunity for Juan Soto, who sent a grounder into right field for his 41st RBI of the season. It would take sacrifice flies from Alex Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead, which Clay Holmes would close out to end the game.
Now 35-17 on the season, the Yankees hold a 3.5-game lead that could be reverted to a 3-game lead in the AL East if the Orioles beat the White Sox (which let’s be real, they will). Carlos Rodon (5-2, 3.27 ERA) will go up against Yu Darvish (4-1, 2.08 ERA) tomorrow night as the Yankees kick off a three-game set in San Diego against the Padres, first pitch at 9:40 PM EST.