After a wild-card series where the Yankees got plenty of length from their starting pitching, Luis Gil couldn’t continue that trend in Game 1 of the ALDS.
He couldn’t even make it out of the third inning, allowing a pair of homers — to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk — across 2 ⅔ frames and exiting with a runner on first base and down 2-0 on Saturday at Rogers Centre.
“I just feel like a lot of good swings were starting to happen,” Aaron Boone said of the decision during the Fox broadcast. “We were getting to the middle of the order. … Never an easy call, especially with a guy as talented as Luis.”
It marked the shortest start of the season for Gil, who won the American League Rookie of the Year award last year but didn’t make his 2025 debut until Aug. 3 after sustaining a lat strain in spring training.
That turned his arrival into a deadline-esque acquisition, of sorts, and Gil mostly impressed across 11 starts — producing a 3.32 ERA — but struggled with command at times.
He didn’t walk anyone against the Blue Jays in Game 1 after getting left off the wild-card series roster, but Guerrero sent a changeup 367 feet over the left-field fence with two outs in the first and Kirk demolished a ball 392 feet to the same part of Rogers Centre one frame later.
Tim Hill took over for Gil, who threw 48 pitches, and recorded the final out of the frame.
With the Yankees needing a fourth postseason starter to open the ALDS, Gil couldn’t deliver after getting the nod over rookie Will Warren.
