Luis Gil looked dominant in five strong innings as he looks to grab a spot in the Yankees' rotation, as New York took down the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1, on Friday night in Tampa.

Gil was pumping in heaters early and often and surrendered just one hit and one walk while tallying seven strikeouts on 69 pitches (46 strikes).

It was a rough night for Aaron Judge in his first game back from the WBC as he went hitless in three at-bats with three strikeouts. O’s starter Zach Eflin got him twice, as the right-hander was just as good as Gil, retiring the first 14 Yanks he faced and getting 15 of 16 batters.

The two teams combined for two hits (both doubles) entering the home half of the eighth inning when the Yanks took advantage of a Baltimore youngster with four doubles in a five-hit frame to win the game.

Here are the takeaways...

- Gil got two quick outs to start the first before blowing a 99 mph fastball off the inside corner past the bat of Pete Alonso. The righty picked up where he left off: beating Coby Mayo on a 93 mph changeup in on the hands and blowing a 99 mph fastball past Leody Taveras in a perfect second. More of the same in a 12-pitch third as Gil blew a 98 mph fastball past Luis Vazquez and a 99 mph fastball past Jose Barrero.

After retiring the first 11 straight, including a sixth strikeout, blowing a 97 mph fastball above the zone past Taylor Ward, Gil surrendered a ground-rule double deep to left off Alonso's bat. (The ex-Met smoked a 97 mph heater at the top of the zone, 110.3 mph off the bat.) Gil recovered by getting Mayo swinging at a wicked 91 mph slider off the outside corner.

Gil closed his book in the fifth, getting around a one-out walk with a 6-4-3 double play. Gil pitched like he had something to prove and seemed amped up, averaging 96.8 mph on his fastball (up 1.5 mph), 93.2 mph on his changeup (up 2.4 mph), and 88.6 mph on the slider (up 1.9 mph)

- Judge, in his return for the WBC, went down swinging on a curveball in and at the knees and was caught looking at a 3-2 two-seamer that ran back right over the plate in the fourth against Eflin.

The slugger had a big chance with one out in the sixth with runners on first and second against reliever Dietrich Enns. In the eight-pitch at-bat, which included an error by O's catcher Samuel Bassallo that put both runners in scoring position, Judge waved at a 3-2 change-up below the zone to finish 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

- Ryan McMahon, getting the start at short, popped out in foul territory to third after a nine-pitch battle to start the third and went down looking at a sinker to strand a runner at second to end the fifth. McMahon lined a changeup from O's minor leaguer Cohen Achen the other way for a double that one-hopped the wall (106.3 mph, 334 feet), to finish 1-for-3.

- Oswaldo Cabrera, playing third, went down looking at a cutter on the corner his first time up, but knocked in the game's lone run, muscling a 3-1 fastball up the middle for an RBI single scoring McMahon from second, to go 1-for-3.

- Jazz Chisholm Jr. notched the first Yanks’ hit in the fifth with a two-out bloop into left-center and took advantage of some lackadaisical defense, hustling into second for a double. He went 1-for-3.

- Out of the bullpen, David Bednar got two strikeouts swinging on the splitter below the zone in a 13-pitch, 1-2-3 sixth inning.

Left-hander Tim Hill issued a walk to start the seventh, and after getting Alonso to fly out to center, induced a 5-4-3 double-play. After Hill's 14-pitch effort, Paul Blackburn outdid him with a 1-2-3 eighth on just seven pitches. Blackburn made things interesting in the ninth, allowing a one-out triple down the third base line, aided by the left fielder falling over on the warning track, and a two-out Bassallo RBI double off the base of the wall in right. But after walking Maverick Handley, the righty got Anderson De Los Santos looking to end it.

- Trent Grisham was called out looking at a two-seamer on the inside corner and was robbed of a hit to start the fourth when Taveras ranged to his left in center to flag down a sharply hit (103.8 mph) sinking-liner. He finished 0-for-2 with a walk.

- Cody Bellinger, playing left field, grounded out to the right side of the infield three times, all of which ended innings and the last of which stranded two in scoring position in the sixth, to go 0-for-3.

- Ben Rice went down swinging at a 2-2 curveball below the zone in his first at-bat. He finished 0-for-3.

- Giancarlo Stanton, getting the start in right field where he didn't see any action, swung through a sweeper off the outside corner in his second at-bat. He finished 0-for-2.

- J.C. Escarra grounded out to first and walked. He went 1-for-2 on ABS challenges behind the plate.

- Oddity that may not interest anybody: The Yanks closed the first, second, and third innings by grounding out to first with Alonso tossing it to Eflin covering the bag.

Here are the takeaways...

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