ANAHEIM, Calif. — Before Luis Gil made his sixth and final start of the month, Aaron Boone called his May “superb.”
The right-hander might as well have told the Yankees manager to hold his beer.
Gil capped off a terrific month with yet another gem, completing eight innings for the first time in his career to lift the Yankees to a 2-1 win over the Angels on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.
Needing an efficient 95 pitches to make it through eight innings, Gil allowed just two hits — one of them a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh — as well as two walks and one run while striking out nine.
He smashed his previous career high of 6 ¹/₃ innings.
Clay Holmes made things interesting in the ninth, putting the first two runners on base before escaping with a pair of ground balls to keep Gil’s seventh win in check for the Yankees (38-19).
Across six starts this month — effectively serving as his coming out party after a decent April in which he posted a 4.01 ERA in five starts — Gil allowed just three runs across 38 ²/₃ innings, good for a 0.70 ERA.
Along the way, he struck out 44 and walked 12 while opponents hit just .109 (14-for-129) against him.
After being optioned to minor league spring training at the beginning of March and tabbed as Gerrit Cole’s injury replacement at the end of that month, Gil is making a strong case to start the MLB All-Star Game for the American League in July. He owns a 1.99 ERA through 11 starts.
“The stuff that always leaps off the page or the screen has been there all year and continues to be there,” Boone said before the game from which he was ejected in the first inning because of a controversial double play. “But the maturity and the evolution and the experience that he’s gaining and is serving him well, he’s applying those things better and better. I just feel like he’s getting better with his overall mix of pitches. When you walk out there with that kind of skill set and you execute, this can be the result.”
Gil also became the 16th straight Yankees starter to pitch at least five innings and allow two or fewer runs, extending the MLB record that they broke Tuesday night.
Alex Verdugo gave Gil a lead to work with in the top of the fourth inning, when he turned on an inside sinker and crushed it for a home run, his second in three games.
Anthony Volpe, who extended his hitting streak to 21 games earlier in the night, later doubled the lead with his hustle in the seventh inning.
After making a highlight-reel play at shortstop in the bottom of the sixth, diving to his right to stab a ground ball and firing to first for the out, Volpe led off the seventh with a line drive down the right-field line.
The ball rolled all the way into the corner and Volpe got on his horse, taking off for third.
He dove in safely and collided with the leg of third baseman Luis Guillorme as the relay throw bounced out of play.
After taking a few seconds to gather himself, Volpe jogged home with a smile as the crowd gave him a standing ovation, extending the Yankees’ lead to 2-0.
That run proved to be key as Logan O’Hoppe homered off Gil in the bottom of the seventh, snapping a stretch of 11 straight batters retired.
The night began in bizarre fashion, as Boone was tossed in the top of the first inning for arguing a controversial call.
The Yankees had the bases loaded with no outs when Giancarlo Stanton hit a pop-up to second base, with the infield fly rule quickly called.
Juan Soto retreated slowly to second base and was about to step on second when shortstop Zach Neto reached back and collided with Soto.
Second-base umpire Vic Carapazza called Soto out for interference, making it a double play, snuffing out a potential rally and sending Boone to the clubhouse early.
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