The bullpen ended up being a little annoying, but there were a lot of positive takeaways from the Yankees’ Sunday afternoon game as a whole. Luis Gil was tremendous, the offense clubbed five home runs, and two of them came as the team had to scramble for insurance late. All told, the Yankees won yet another series with the matinee victory over the Rays, moving to 27-15 on the year.
I keep reminding myself that Luis Gil is probably a relief pitcher in the long run, but boy do starts like these make me excited. Gil spun six shutout innings, against a Rays team determined not to be sat down nine times like on April 21st. To their credit, they didn’t, striking out just three times in those six innings. Gil showed up in adjusting his gameplan, hunting the shadow zones and taking advantage of Tampa Bay’s aggression early in the count.
All told, Gil recorded eight groundouts against three in the air, a key tactic against a team that still boasts a fair amount of pop. For a pitcher who is still building his resume, being able to change up his approach on the fly should be a major source of optimism.
Of course, when you keep the ball on the ground like that, you do need some help from the boys behind you:
