Yankees Split Doubleheader With Angels

 

Luis Gil fires in the first pitch of the opening game of the twinbill. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees split a doubleheader with the Angels on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, as they took the opening game, 5-2, backed by a great outing from Luis Gil, and dropped the nightcap, 8-2.

With these results, the Yankees are 68-47, and they remain in a tie with the Baltimore Orioles, who have the same record, atop the American League East. 

GAME 1: YANKEES 5, ANGELS 2 - Luis Gil got the start for the Yankees in this one, and he navigated his way through five shutout innings.

This was Gil’s 12th win of the season, and the fifth time he has kept the opponent scoreless, with the last instance on June 4 against Minnesota. 

Gil scattered two hits and five walks, and struck out six as he improved to 12-5 with a superb 3.06 earned run average. 

The Angels had a big chance to score in the top of the first inning, as Gil walked Zach Neto and Willie Calhoun before getting Kevin Pillar to fly out to left field.

Then, in the bottom half, the Yankees wanted no time getting to Angels starter Davis Daniel. 

Alex Verdugo led off with a double, and then with one out, Aaron Judge drew a walk and Austin Wells got an RBI single, followed by a two-out RBI double from Anthony Volpe that made it 2-0.

Oswaldo Cabrera added to the lead in the bottom of the second when he blasted a solo home run to right field, his seventh home run of the season, to make it 3-0.

Then, in the fourth, Verdugo got an RBI double, and Judge drove him in with a single that opened up a 5-0 lead.

Gil, whose pitch count was getting up there, came out for the fifth, and he had his only 1-2-3 inning of the day.

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said of Gil’s outing, and the importance of that final inning, “It was good, because it was a bit of a struggle there, just to get him in a rhythm. His stuff was good, fastball profile really good, you know, just a lot of big, long counts, but you know, in the end, gave us five shutout, and kind of grinded his way to it, kind of set us up for a Game 1 victory. Good job of battling today by Luis…

“I mean, the fifth inning was probably the best inning. I feel like he finally got into a little bit of a rhythm there in the fifth, and kind of found his delivery and everything, but yeah, he wanted that last inning. He knew where he was, he knew he didn’t have a long leash there in that fifth inning. If anything went wrong, I was going to the ‘pen, so, but it was big for him to finish the way he did when it wasn’t easy. Look up at the end, see five shutout on a day when it was a bit of a grind for him.”

The Angels got into it in the seventh when Neto hit a two-run homer off Jake Cousins, but Luke Weaver pitched a perfect eighth, and Clay Holmes pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts, for his 24th save of the season.

GAME 2: ANGELS 8, YANKEES 2: Zach Neto picked up where he left off, as he nearly provided all the offense the Angels needed, with six RBI in the nightcap.

The Yankees went with spot starter Will Warren in this one, electing to push Marcus Stroman, who has struggled of late, back to Sunday vs. the Texas Rangers.

After Warren got through the first inning with no trouble, the Angels went to work in the second inning. 

Kevin Pillar and Matt Thaiss opened it with singles, and then Mickey Moniak got an RBI knock to put the Angels on the board. Then, with two outs and the bases loaded, Warren walked Nolan Schanuel to force in a run before Neto crushed into the Angels bullpen in left field to make it 6-0.

Will Warren walks off the field after the long second inning. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees were only able to get a run back in the bottom of the second, as Jazz Chisholm, who went hitless in Game 1, doubled and scored on a DJ LeMahieu single.

Then, after Warren got through the third inning unscatched, Neto got a two-run double in the fourth inning to open up an 8-1 lead at the time. Neto finished 3-for-5 with six RBI.