By Paul Semendinger
May 2, 2024
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About Last Night: Last night the Yankees, the first place Yankees, defeated the Orioles 2-0 on a great pitching performance by Luis Gil and a homerun that just made it by Oswaldo Cabrera.
Quick Stats:
WP - Luis Gil
S - Clay Holmes
LP - Corbin Burnes
HR - Oswaldo Cabrera
Big Story - The Yankees have not been scoring many runs. After scoring 15 runs on Saturday and 15 more on Sunday, the Yankees scored no runs on Monday, two on Tuesday, and two last night. They lost on Monday. They lost on Tuesday. They won last night.
Player(s) of the Game - Luis Gil. The difference in this game was Luis Gil. This was his best performance of the year as far as I am concerned. He pitched into the seventh inning. He allowed only two hits. Better yet, he walked only one. Even better yet, he allowed no runs. Since the Yankees didn't score, except on an Oswaldo Cabrera homer, one that just snuck into the foul pole net, Gil had to be just about perfect... and he was. He also struck out five.
Notable Performances:
Oswaldo Cabrera had two hits
Juan Soto had a hit and a walk
Clay holmes pitched 1.2 innings, allowed one hit, and striking out three to earn the save
Better to Forget:
Remember when everyone said, "Judge is back!" He's gone 1 for 11 this series. His average is back down to .200
Anthony Volpe struck out three times in going 0-for-4
Giancarlo Stanton went 0-for-4
Anthony Rizzo went 0-for-3
Gleyber Torres went 0-for-3
Ian Hamilton didn't pitch well, facing three batters, getting one out, hitting one batter, and walking one batter
My Takes:
I was at the game with my cousin and his family. I LOVE Camden Yards. It is such a delightful place to watch a baseball game.
Over the last few years, I have been to PNC Park, CitiField, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Camden Yards. Of those five stadiums, the one that is the least fan friendly, the least enjoyable, the least fun, the loudest, the most expensive, and the one with the least amount of character is Yankee Stadium. I hate saying that, but it's true. I love Yankee Stadium. I love going to Yankee games, but Yankee Stadium just isn't as nice a place to watch a game as those other parks.
I'll explore this further in a "Perspectives" article tomorrow or Saturday, but, before we announce that a player is "BACK!" let's see him produce for more than a game or two. We're now in May. Aaron Judge is hitting .200. How can that not be concerning?
Giancarlo Stanton is batting .223. How is that not concerning?
Gleyber Torres is batting .215.
One can say, "It's early..." but... it's not so early
Next Up - The Yankees and the Orioles close out the series this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Carlos Rodon takes the mound for the Yankees who will try to split the four game series.
Burnes was burned by one pitch however Gil pitched better last night, he appears to be gaining more confidence with every outing. Nice win against a very, very good team. Volpe should probably be moved out of the lead off spot.... maybe try Cabrera there.
Mentally, Volpe is not ready to be the leadoff hitter. The numbers do not lie.
Gil, in my opinion, because of coming back from TJS, is and always was going to be the one pulled from the rotation with no injuries, when Cole comes back.
Boy, did Cabrera did that!
The umpire had a wide strike zone (for both pitchers, I should add). Against a pitcher as nasty as Corbin Burnes, that makes him nearly unhittable. I was frustrated by the Yankees' inability to make more of the runners they got on-base in the two previous game, but against an ace of Burnes' caliber, you can't expect to score a lot of runs.
I am worried about Judge and Torres to varying degrees, though I'm far more concerned by Torres. Judge still hit multiple balls hard, and looked far from lost at the plate, just not quite on it. Torres, on the other hand, has looked lost since last September, and it's not really getting any better.
I said in…
Paul Volpe’s batting average has gone down from .340 plus to .262 ever since he was moved to the leadoff spot. Three more strikeouts in 4 at bats. Not good
Big Story - The Yankees have not been scoring many runs. After scoring 15 runs on Saturday and 15 more on Sunday.....
fairly big distortion. when a baseball team has scored 15 runs in consecutive games, they have been scoring much.
they they have not scored much during the first 3 games in Baltimore does not change that the team has, thus far in the young season, scored nearly 5 runs/gm and has produced as many runs as all but 2 of the teams in the AL
the team produced the greatest average number of runs, Baltimore, also has not been producing many runs in these 3 games.
pitching, pitching, pitching.
3 games- 4 runs for the Yankees, 6 runs…