The New York Yankees were coming off of a loss to end the series in San Diego and one to open this series in Los Angeles against the Angels, as the offense sputtered in both contests. Looking to get back in the win column, the Yankees would send out Luis Gil to be their “stopper” and prevent a three-game skid, and to say he delivered would be an understatement. The young right-hander wasn’t just good, he dominated the Angels from start to finish as he fired eight innings of one-run baseball.
With the offense getting just enough to get them the win, the Yankees were able to knot up this series and improve to 19 games over .500.
Luis Gil Shows the Yankees He’s Irreplaceable
As mentioned earlier, the best way to describe Luis Gil’s outing is with one word: dominant. The right-hander carved through the Angels’ lineup as he picked up nine strikeouts across eight innings of one-run baseball. Walking just two batters and having his only run come in the form of a solo blast, Gil looked as sharp as ever. This was the first time in his professional career that he completed eight innings, and he’s starting to look like a Cy Young candidate.
Through the first 11 starts of his season, he’s given the Yankees 63.1 innings with a 1.99 ERA and 79 strikeouts, as we’ve seen the walk rate become more manageable in recent outings. He only allowed two hits in the entire outing as well, continuing to flash a ridiculously low ERA in his outings. He picked up 15 whiffs in the start, and he’s the MVP of this game as he didn’t allow the Angels to tie things up or take the lead at any point in those eight innings.
On the offensive side of things, Anthony Volpe picked up two hits including a triple that turned into an inside-the-park home run, as the second-year shortstop continues to impress on the season. Alex Verdugo had a home run in this game as well, and weirdly enough the Yankees picked up nine walks and six hits during the game, making it all the more confusing as to how they didn’t score more than two runs.
Clay Holmes would give a little ninth-inning scare, allowing a single and walk to open the frame with a one-run lead, but he’d pick up a double play and groundout in the next two at-bats to end the game. The Yankees are now 38-19 on the season, sitting atop the AL East with a two-game lead over the Orioles. They’ll send Carlos Rodon out against Patrick Sandoval as the two southpaws do battle at 9:38 PM EST.