About Last Night: Yanks Win 2-1

by Paul Semendinger

May 30, 2024

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The Yankees played the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles California (or something like that) last night. (The world was a simplier place when they were simply the California Angels.)

On the mound for the Yankees to start was rookie phenom Luis Gil. He was tasked with ending the Yankees losing streak of two games. The Yankees, to this point in the entire season had lost three consecutive games only once. Their longest losing streak of the season has been three games.

Luis Gil put the team on his back and carried them to victory with some help from Alex Verdugo and Anthony Volpe who had big hits.

About Last Night - The Yankees got two runs... and it was enough because Luis Gil continues to dominate.

Quick Stats:

• WP- Luis Gil (7-1, 1.99)

• SV - Clay Holmes

• LP- Tyler Anderson

• NYY HR - Alex Verdugo

Game Notes:

Anthony Volpe singled to start the game. He has now hit in 21 consecutive games. This is the longest hitting streak for a Yankee since Robinson Cano hit in 23 consecutive games in 2012.

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This game was a Prime-TV game that also was blocked on the Audacy app. (More on that below.) I "watched" on ESPN Gamecast which is a slow and tedious way to "watch" a baseball game.

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I quickly started to be pleased that I couldn't see this game. Imagine - loading the bases in the top of the first with no outs - the first three batters all reached, a single and back-to-back walks - and failing to score. Imagine that. The Yankees did just that.

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Of course, part of the reason the Yankees failed to score was a lame, horrible, brain dead, confused, ridiculous, and frankly (I believe) incorrect ruling of a double play on an infield fly call with no one out. Juan Soto went back to the bag (second base), he tried to get away from the fielder, the fielder ran into him, as Soto was going to the bag in which he is entitled, and he was called out for interference. Can the umpiring get any worse? Why is there replay if this isn't reviewed by the umpires themselves? Horrible. Just horrible. Soto has a right to get back to the bag. He clearly tried to avoid the fielder.

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In the second inning, Anthony Rizzo got hit by a batted ball off the bat of DJ LeMahieu. Interference. Out. Two different interference calls in two innings. Amazing.

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After two innings, the Yankees had six base runners. Six. Three hits and three walks and they scored NO runs. None. (Imagine - I am glad I am not paying extra money to watch this kind of baseball.)

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Alex Verdugo finally got the Yankees on the board with a solo homer in the fourth inning.

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It would have been so much fun to watch Luis Gil pitch. That would be worth the money... (still, I refuse to pay in principle).

Luis Gil:

• Struck out 1 in the first

• 2 in the second

• 1 in the third

• 3 in the fourth

• 1 in the fifth

• 0 in the sixth

• 1 in the seventh

• 0 in the eighth

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Anthony Rizzo made a diving play on a ground ball to his right to get an out to begin the fifth inning.

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I am with my new grandbabies. They made the late night, non-TV game easy to get through. I took acre of them, and would then check back at what happened and then try to find a highlight video in Twitter (X). This is not the best way to watch baseball, but it is fun to be with my grandchildren. I think they're Yankees fans already.

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The Yankees keep getting quality starting pitching. The streak of consecutive excellent starts goes back to the 1890s, and that was as of yesterday. This is insane in a great way. A fantastic way!

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Anthony Volpe made a great diving play to get the first out of the 6th inning. he then hit a triple that became a "home run" on a throwing error giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

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Luis Gil finally allowed a run on a homer in the seventh inning. He had been better than good, better than great... Exceptional! Amazing!!!

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Clay Holmes pitched the ninth... he made it a little tense, but he nailed down the save.

Player of the Game - Luis Gil. 8 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts

Notable Performances - 

• Anthony Volpe had two hits

• Juan Soto had a hit and walked twice

Better to Forget -

• The Yankees had only six hits in the game

• The Yankees though walked 9 times

• How do you score only two times with 15 base runners?

My Take - So, it was a Prime-TV game, and on the west coast... so it was a late night watching the Yankees when I couldn't even watch them. The people who run baseball are so often clueless. They are taking the game away from the people who care. This might be a great short term money grab, but in the long run, they will drive fans away. It's similar to an ice cream truck driving slowly by a hot beach and refusing to sell any ice cream on certain days - except to those who pay extra for the service of being able to buy an ice cream. Push the people who want your product away - and soon, they won't care about your product at all.

I tried to listen to the game on the Audacy app. They also would not permit me to listen to the game (I am in Pennsylvania right now.)

Imagine that. YOU CAN'T WATCH ON TV. YOU CAN'T LISTEN ON THE RADIO APP WE ADVERTIZE FOUR HUNDRED MILLION TIMES A GAME. But, please, kindly, give us your money, dear fan, because we care about you.

This is all very frustrating.

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The Yankees did not hit enough to plate the many base runners they had, but Luis Gil was amazing again.

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The Yankees are 19 games over .500. This is fun!

Next Up - Carlos Rodon takes the hill tonight against the Angels in the final game of this three game series. Game time is 9:38 p.m. (I liked baseball better before they expaned west beyond the Delaware Water Gap.)