BALTIMORE — One way to counter the Yankees, who only scored two points?
Don’t give up on anything.
Lewis Gil made it look easy Wednesday night, getting the best start to his young career by shutting out the Orioles at Camden Yards and leading the Yankees to a 2-0 victory.
Gill pitched in the seventh inning for the first time in his major league career and pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only two singles and one walk, with five strikeouts.
The 25-year-old right-hander beat former National League Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes with a two-run homer off Oswaldo Cabrera in the fifth inning.
Clay Holmes made a five-out save to round out the win. Ian Hamilton started in the eighth inning, but he gave up a walk and hit a batter before getting his first out.
Coach Boone then called on Holmes to play against the top of the standings, with the game on the line, and Holmes struck out Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman on seven pitches.
In the bottom of the 9th inning, Holmes allowed an infield hit to take the lead, but he fought back with a strikeout and two groundouts, recording his 10th save of the year. He did not allow an earned run through 15 innings.
The Yankees lost in overtime to Milwaukee on Friday. Pitcher Holmes pitched 9 innings with no runs on 10 pitches, but Manager Boone did not want to use Holmes pitcher in the bottom of the 10th inning, so he did not return to Holmes to protect the one-run lead. He lasted him two innings.
But after the Yankees lost the first two games of this series against their division rivals, Boone decided on Wednesday to give Holmes more effort.
The Yankees (20-12) had a chance to split a four-game series against the Orioles (19-11) on Thursday afternoon.
Cabrera pounced on an inside cutter on his first pitch in the fifth inning and hit a two-run home run just inside the right field foul pole, giving the Yankees their first lead of the series.
Cabrera’s home run and Gil’s great hitting made up for an offense that struggled to muster any threat, finishing the night with four hits and one walk.
Gill made his major league debut on August 6, 2021, pitching six scoreless innings against the Orioles.
But those were the rebuilding Orioles, who finished the year 52-110, and they didn’t have the dangerous lineup that was one of the game’s best offenses early in the season.
