Bronx, NY: Right-hander Luis Gil has provided and proved to the Yankees that a permanent rotation spot is not out of the question. At Yankee Stadium Sunday afternoon, and despite the Yankees losing 2-0 and dropping the finale of a four-game series to the Mariners, Gill got his second Major League start.
Had the Yankees not gone 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, perhaps, Gil would have got the win. Regardless, Gil, the 23-year old from Azua Dominican Republic, was once again sent back down to Triple-A Scranton after pitching five shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight.
With a pitching rotation decimated without Gerrit Cole, Domingo German, and Jordan Montgomery, due to COVID-19 and German with right shoulder inflammation, Gil has been granted the opportunity and pitched six innings earlier this week against the Orioles in his Major League debut.
“Today, he wasn’t as sharp as he was the first time out,” said manager Aaron Boone. “His first time out when he went six innings je had great command. Today, he was a little more scattered, but he made a lot of important pitches. That was encouraging to me. When he wasn’t at his most dominant, you still see the swing and miss that he has.”
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Boone made reference to Gil having his repertoire of pitches and using them when he had to. Gil also got himself out of a jam in the second inning striking out the Mariners’ Dylan Moore and got Jake Bauers to ground out with the bases loaded.
“ It was an inning, was able to make some adjustments there,” Gil said through an interpreter about getting out of the jam. “The team was behind me pushing me, allowing me to control my emotions. eventually was able to get out of that inning.”
Gil has tossed 11-scoreless innings in his two starts which also has made an impression with Boone and more so provided the help for a taxed Yankees bullpen that used a total of nine pitches in their Friday night win over the Mariners.
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The Yankees snapped a five game winning streak and lost for the third time in 13 games. They departed for a road trip to Kansas City and a three game series with the central division leading White Sox that also includes a nationally televised game at the Field Of Dreams Thursday evening.
They are 2-0 games behind Oakland and Boston in the AL Wild Card picture. They also saw the return of Luke Voit who struck out with two outs and the bases loaded in the third inning.
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Voit came off the injured list .He replaced Anthony Rizzo who added to a growing list of Yankees players that have tested positive for COVID-19. But Gleyber Torres could be the latest to join the injured list and awaiting results of an MRI after hurting his left thumb during a steal attempt in the fourth inning.
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