As the New York Yankees continue to skid, promising right-hander Luis Gil delivered another less-than-stellar outing on Tuesday night in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The 5-4 loss marked the fourth consecutive series that the Yankees dropped the opening game.
Gil was pulled in the fifth inning after hitting two batters and allowing a two-run home run to give the Reds a 3-0 lead. Cincinnati scored four runs off Gil, who surrendered two hits but walked three in addition to those hit by pitches.
Gil has not looked the same for about a month with his ERA ballooning from 1.82 on June 9 to 3.41 following Tuesday's start. Neither he nor the Yankees coaching staff has figured out what's gone wrong for the 26-year-old.
“Maybe the delivery wasn’t quite what I wanted,” Gil said via the team’s Spanish interpreter. “I can’t pinpoint exactly why.”
“Just mechanically syncing your body to the point where you can feel comfortable and like I mentioned before,” Gil said, per Brendan Kuty. “Sometimes you hit bumps when you’re competing at this level. But at the same time, I feel sure of myself that working hard I will be able to get out of it and not let things like that keep happening.”
It's been nothing but bumps for Gil as of late. His last quality start was on June 4. Since then he's allowed 20 runs across his last five starts while walking 14. Luis Gil has one win in those five starts.
“It’s tough,” Gil said, “but there’s no giving up. That’s what it is. You keep battling. You keep fighting, and then you turn it around.”
Yankees' slide continues as All-Star break nears
The Yankees were flirting with the best record in baseball not too long ago. They've struggled over the last few weeks and lost their grip on the AL East lead as the Baltimore Orioles take over the reins of the division.
New York is 5-12 since June 13, when they had a two and a half game lead in the division and the best winning percentage in the MLB. They haven’t won a series since that stretch began with a loss to the Kansas City Royals, who avoided a four-game sweep.
While Aaron Judge continues to prove he's the best hitter on the planet, the rest of the Yankees lineup outside of Juan Soto has gone quiet. Over the last 15 days, Anthony Volpe has a .533 OPS, Alex Verdugo had five hits in 43 at-bats and DJ LeMahieu has a .499 OPS.
The Yankees' pitching staff hasn’t done the team any favors either. New York hasn’t had a quality start from one of their arms since June 23. The Yankees rotation posted an 8.72 ERA over the last 12 games. They went 3-9 in those games.
With the All-Star break now less than two weeks away, it may be the perfect time for the Yankees to get a breather. If they can grab six or seven wins in their last 11 before the break, they'd have 60 wins with 64 to play and be almost guaranteed a playoff spot if they play .500 the rest of the way.
The Yankees have bigger aspirations than that though and want to get back to the top of the MLB mountain. That includes winning the AL East, grabbing the top seed in the American League and winning a World Series. The Yankees will have a tough time accomplishing any of those if they continue to play the way they have.
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