It was the longest time Luis Gil has ever played a game, and the longest time Clay Holmes has played in a game this season. The New York Yankees needed both of them to play well against a strong Baltimore team.
After losing the first two games of this series between the top two teams in the AL East, New York narrowly beat the Orioles 2-0 on Wednesday night. Gil pitched for 6 1/3 innings, and Holmes came in for a five-out save after Baltimore threatened to score late.
Oswaldo Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning off Corbin Burnes (3-1), which was all the scoring in the game.
“Whenever you play against teams in your division, especially in the American League East, the games are tough,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Especially considering what the Orioles have become over the last couple of years, you know you have to play well. You’re facing their best pitcher after already losing a couple of games.”
New York scored 15 runs in two consecutive wins over Milwaukee over the weekend, but their offense hasn’t been as good since they arrived in Baltimore.
The Orioles won 2-0 and 4-2 in the first two games of the series, and players like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gleyber Torres haven’t been playing their best so far this season.
However, the pitching has been good despite the absence of injured ace Gerrit Cole. Gil (2-1) lowered his ERA to 3.19 and played longer than he ever had before. He only allowed two hits and a walk while striking out five batters.
