CHICAGO — This is why it may be difficult to put Luis Gil in the bullpen.
As much as the Yankees could use him as a closer, when the right-hander is on he is one of their most valuable starters.
Gil was dominant in his return from the injured list, tossing six shutout innings of one-hit ball to lift the Yankees to a 3-0 win over the Cubs on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Of course, after Gil exited the game, the Yankees still had to find a way to record the final nine outs in their first game with a lead since Aaron Boone said he would get “creative” with save opportunities after Clay Holmes blew his 11th save on Tuesday night in Texas.
Jake Cousins threw a scoreless seventh inning against the middle of the order. Tommy Kahnle got the eighth against the 8-9-1 batters and struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 inning.
Boone then called on Luke Weaver for his first career save opportunity in the ninth to face the heart of the Cubs’ order, which included a pair of left-handed hitters.
Weaver responded by striking out Michael Busch and Seiya Suzuki before walking Cody Bellinger.
But he won an 11-pitch battle with Isaac Paredes, getting him to ground out to secure the victory.
With the victory, the Yankees (81-60) won for only the third time in their last nine games — and temporarily moved into a tie for first place in the AL East pending the Orioles’ game against the Rays — while cooling off the Cubs (72-69), who had won 9 of 12 coming into Friday.
After missing the minimum 15 days with a lower back strain, Gil hardly skipped a beat.
His velocity was down a tick — with his fastball averaging 95 mph compared to the 96.8 mph it averaged the rest of the year — but it did not affect his ability to get outs.
And he could still reach back for 98 mph when he needed it, like he did to get one of his seven strikeouts on the day.
On a day that began with a hero’s welcome for Anthony Rizzo, who returned to Wrigley for the first time since the Cubs traded him to the Yankees in 2021, the veteran first baseman went 1-for-3 with a walk.
The Yankees took a 3-0 lead in the third inning off left-hander Jordan Wicks thanks to the top of their lineup. Gleyber Torres led off the frame with a walk before Juan Soto singled.
Aaron Judge then roped a double down the third-base line to put the Yankees up 1-0.
Austin Wells, playing in his first game since Monday when he took a 95 mph fastball off his right hand, followed by going the other way for a two-run single to make it 3-0.
With the lead to work with, Gil responded in the bottom of the third with a shutdown inning on six pitches.
After Gil made his return from the IL on Friday, Clarke Schmidt is set to do the same on Saturday, giving the Yankees a rotation crunch if everyone stays healthy.
Boone has said one starter is likely to end up in the bullpen, and it is easy to imagine Gil’s shutdown stuff playing well at the back end.
But on Friday, it was also easy to imagine Gil being a strong choice to start a playoff game next month.
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