Gil K's 6, but control issues (7 walks) persist

TORONTO -- The swing-and-miss stuff that secured Luis Gil’s place on the Opening Day roster has been present through three starts, but so have bouts of wildness, a task for the right-hander to work on as he looks to solidify his rotation spot.

Gil walked seven over five innings of three-run ball as the Yankees fell to the Blue Jays, 3-1, on Monday evening at Rogers Centre.

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“There are good days and bad days,” Gil said through an interpreter. “At the end of the day, when you’re out there, you just have to keep battling. You have to keep visualizing the strike zone. You want to keep making pitches. It was definitely not my night tonight.”

Five of Gil’s free passes came in the first two innings, helping place aboard the runs that Toronto would need.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa worked the Jays’ third consecutive walk in the second inning to force home a run, and Gil uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Alejandro Kirk to scamper home two batters later.

“When he’s in the strike zone, he can be dominant, and will be dominant,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That’s just the next level for him. That’s where we’ve seen growth with his strike-throwing ability, but tonight was a challenge for him.

“If that continues to improve, even on a night where he struggled, you got a peek at how difficult he is to square up.”

Kirk added a run-scoring double in the third inning as the Bombers fell in consecutive games for the first time this season, one day after dropping an extra-inning contest to the Guardians in Cleveland.

“We’re not happy about it, but that happened,” Oswaldo Cabrera said. “We are just getting ready for tomorrow’s game. We’ll have the same mentality and we are ready for it.”

Neither Gil nor Boone attributed Gil’s issues to extra rest; Gil last started eight days ago, taking a no-decision against the Blue Jays in New York.

“I don’t think it affected me,” Gil said. “It’s definitely extra time that you’re not used to, but you’re just trying to execute pitches. If it’s not working or you’re not getting the results you really want, you keep battling and keep your focus on the strike zone. You’ve got to keep your head up high.”

Cabrera’s second-inning RBI single represented the Yankees’ only dent against Chris Bassitt, who hurled 6 1/3 innings of one-run, four-hit ball.

Bassitt faced the Yanks twice last season, tossing 14 2/3 scoreless innings.

“He’s nasty. He’s a really nasty pitcher,” Cabrera said. “He has too many pitches to beat you up. We tried to battle, but we know that he’s a really good pitcher.”

Boone described Bassitt’s pitching arsenal of sinkers, slow curves, sliders and cutters as “the epitome of the kitchen sink.”

“He'll throw everything,” Boone said. “He will make things up on the fly; he's very good at just coming up with different pitches, so it's hard to really get a bead on him.”

Ron Marinaccio tossed two scoreless innings and Dennis Santana worked a clean eighth in relief for the Yankees, who were light in the bullpen after being worked heavily during the Cleveland series.

Therein was a silver lining of sorts to be found in Gil’s outing, according to Boone, who suggested that the 25-year-old’s arsenal allowed him to get deeper into the game than others would have.

“Credit to him for being able to get through five,” Boone said. “It’s a testament to just how good his stuff is and how hard he is to hit. Almost anyone else goes out there and does that, they’re hanging seven, eight, nine [runs] on you.”

Gil has struck out 20 of his 61 batters faced this season (32.8 percent K rate), holding opponents to a .133 batting average (6-for-45).

“It’s three outings; three learning experiences that are helping me grow as a pitcher,” Gil said. “After each one, I like to review them and watch video to fine-tune the mistakes during the game.”