Luis Gil’s dominance is back, albeit in a new form.
The Yankees right-hander has produced the results that made him an ace, even if his form has begun to change, and the Yankees are hoping Gil can get back on track.
The 26-year-old pitched his best game in a month on Sunday night, allowing just one run (a home run by Rafael Devers) while allowing four hits and striking out nine over 6 2/3 innings.
“It’s very encouraging for a tough end to a tough series,” manager Aaron Boone said after his team’s 3-0 loss to the Red Sox in the Bronx.
Gill had a 2.03 ERA in 14 games, but his performance had dipped over his last three starts, raising questions about his status as a starter.
Maybe Gill, pitching his first full season since returning from Tommy John surgery, was getting more tired with each inning. Maybe opposing lineups were adjusting to him. Maybe he just needed a rest.
The Yankees kept attacking Gill, and he responded by throwing fastballs and sliders that tampered with the Boston hitters.
He largely abandoned the changeup he relied on earlier in the year, throwing just 15 of 96 pitches.
“We’ve been working all week on throwing a good fastball,” Gil said through translator Marlon Abreu.
And when he needed to strike out batters, he usually relied on his sharp slider.
“That’s hands down the best slider he’s ever thrown,” Boone said.
The only error came on the penultimate pitch of the night.
Gill aimed a 98.8 mph fastball at the outside half, but it rolled across the middle to Devers, who smashed in the game-winning home run.
“With the quality of hitters in this league, if you make a mistake with a pitch, you pay the price,” Gill said.
Gleyber Torres missed another game due to a nagging groin injury.
The second baseman left Friday’s game early because of right groin tightness and sat out Sunday’s game for the second straight game.
“I think he’s OK,” Boone said. “I know he was pretty good. [Saturday] and [we had] Then there was good news.”
But the Yankees have a rest day on Monday before starting their series at Tampa on Tuesday, and manager Boone said he wanted to give Torres more time off — three full days — to allow time for his groin to heal.
Torres played primarily through the problem, which was not made public until he was forced to leave a game on June 20 with an injury that caused him to lose the game.
On Friday, Torres sprinted to first base to beat out an infield hit, but appeared to limp after reaching the base and was quickly replaced.
After the game, the Yankees announced that he would not be undergoing an MRI.
Boone said Torres could have been used as a pinch hitter on Saturday if necessary.
Oswaldo Cabrera started at second base for the second straight game, going 1-for-2 with 1 walk, becoming the only Yankee player to reach base twice.
Aaron Judge (0-for-4, strikeout-three) served as the designated hitter for the seventh time in his last 10 games.
An injury to Giancarlo Stanton gave the Yankees the opportunity to give Judge more rest than usual.
Trent Grisham started in center and Juan Soto in right field.
Before his big home run on Saturday, Alex Verdugo had struggled over the past two weeks, going 9 for 56 (.161 batting average) with no home runs and 13 strikeouts in his past 14 games.
Boone continued to use Verdugo, but he was 0-for-3 against a right-hander in his usual role as the No. 4 hitter Sunday.
“We’re excited about Verdugo,” Boone said of the left-handed cleanup hitter. “We felt like he was swinging the bat well again last week.”
Boone chose the advantage of platooning over the familiarity of a catcher, starting Austin Wells over Jose Trevino.
The left-handed hitter Wells, who was batting .333 with two home runs in his past seven games, started against right-hander Cutter Crawford. Wells was 0-for-3 at-bats.
Trevino, a right-handed hitter, was benched despite being the catcher for 13 of Gill’s first 17 starts this season.
