Yankees’ Luis Gil sees loss to Orioles as a ‘learning experience’

Luis Gil has been a revelation for the Yankees this season. Not only has the rookie been arguably the team’s best pitcher, but he’s filled in more than admirably for the injured ace Gerrit Cole.

However, the 26-year-old had the worst start of his career on Thursday as the Baltimore Orioles touched him up for a career-high seven runs in 1.1 innings pitched. The Yankees would drop the series after their 17-5 loss.

“You don’t expect that but that’s a part of it. It’s baseball, it happens. Not his day,” manager Aaron Boone said after the game. “They came out very aggressive on the fastball in the first inning. … they had a plan to get after the fastball, took it away and were on top of it today. And obviously not his day.”

“They have a really good lineup,” Gil said after his start through an interpreter. “There’s good days and bad days out there. And today, definitely not my best. Felt like I let the team down today. We have more games ahead of us and I’m sure that we’ll be able to turn the page on this one and improve. I believe in myself and my teammates.”

Gil’s start on Thursday dropped his record to 9-2 and raised his ERA from 2.03 to 2.77. But all in all, Gil has been tremendous for the Yanks, and is a big reason New York has the best record in the American League (51-26).

Unfortunately, the Orioles are chasing them for the AL East lead. Following Thursday’s game, the Orioles are just 0.5 games behind the Yankees and hold a 5-2 record against them this season after taking 3-of-4 in Baltimore earlier this year.

“He’s in the midst of a great year and this doesn’t change that,” Boone said of Gil. “It’s one bump in the road. It’s always an opportunity to learn and grow from…That reminder that sometimes, especially when you’re on top of your game, this game will get you. It’s a humbling game. We’ll learn from this, he’ll learn from this.”

The young right-hander echoed his manager’s sentiments and is ready to learn from this experience.

“I missed pitches that they didn’t miss and took advantage of it. It’s definitely a learning experience,” Gil said. “Tomorrow I’ll sit down calmly and go over video and everything I need to look at so I can make the necessary adjustments and be ready for the next one.”

Thursday wasn’t the first time Gil faced this Orioles team this season. Back on May 1, Gil pitched 6.1 scoreless innings while giving up just two hits. When asked if he felt Baltimore adjusted to him this time around, Gil put the onus on his lack of execution as the reason for the loss.

“It’s a game of adjustments. Honestly, there’s some pitches there where I wanted to be better,” Gil said. “Better located, better executed but like I said, we’ll have a new week next week and I’ll work on it to improve.”

Both Gil and Boone say Thursday wasn’t a fatigue or physical issue — this is the most innings Gil has pitched at the major league level — but as the Yankee skipper said, Gil is still a “work in progress.”

After back-to-back series losses, the Yankees will host the Atlanta Braves for a three-game set this weekend.

Gil is in line to pitch next week either against the Mets or the Toronto Blue Jays. He’ll have to wait until then to get back on track for what can be a Rookie of the Year campaign.