Yankees’ rotation takes a turn for success

The Yankees have been blazing on all cylinders this week, playing their best baseball of the season so far to grab the American League’s top record at 33-15, with their starting pitching standing out.

With the Bombers’ weekend sweep of the White Sox, highlighted by Luis Gil’s 14-strikeout performance on Saturday, eclipsing Orlando “El Duque” Hernández’s club record for single-game strikeouts by a rookie pitcher, Yankees starters posted a 0.80 ERA over their seven-game winning streak — just four earned runs across 45 innings.

With the Bombers’ weekend sweep of the White Sox, highlighted by Luis Gil’s 14-strikeout performance on Saturday, eclipsing Orlando “El Duque” Hernández’s club record for single-game strikeouts by a rookie pitcher, Yankees starters posted a 0.80 ERA over their seven-game winning streak — just four earned runs across 45 innings.

“It’s great,” Juan Soto exclaimed. “It’s extremely wonderful to watch those guys working out there every day and doing what we do. Those guys are the reason we are in first place. They’ve been leading the squad correctly and assisting the team when the offense isn’t performing well.

“They’ve been fantastic every day. I believe they are a significant part of it.”

Here’s a look at the starting pitching that has propelled the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak, which the team hopes to continue as Marcus Stroman begins a four-game series against the Mariners at The Stadium on Monday evening:

May 12: Gil in 10-6 win at Rays — 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K’s
May 14: Carlos Rodón in 5-1 win at Twins — 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K’s, 1 HR
May 15: Stroman in 4-0 win at Twins — 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K’s
May 16: Clarke Schmidt in 5-0 win at Twins — 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K’s
May 17: Nestor Cortes in 4-2 win vs. White Sox — 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 6 K’s
May 18: Gil in 6-1 win vs. White Sox — 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 14 K’s
May 19: Rodón in 7-2 win vs. White Sox — 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K’s, 1 HR

It is only the third time in franchise history that Yankees starters have thrown at least six innings in seven starts while allowing only five runs (also May 6-16, 1932 and Aug. 23-28, 1963).

By the way, relief pitchers for the 1932 Yankees must have felt more alone than the Maytag repairman. Over that time, the ’32 rotation of George Pipgras, Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez, and Johnny Allen did not ask for a single out of their bullpen.

During their streak in 1963, Jim Bouton, Whitey Ford, Al Downing, Stan Williams, and Ralph Terry allowed reliever Steve Hamilton to pitch two-thirds of an inning. Of course, this occurred after Williams let up the go-ahead run in the 12th inning of a game versus Chicago.

Alas, we return to the current day.

“They’re doing a good job, man,” catcher Jose Trevino commented. “Everyone is pumped. I believe they’re throwing the ball quite well right now. They realize this is a fantastic moment for them, so let’s keep it going.

Indeed, great starting pitching and early run production have been a prescription for success, with the Yankees outscoring their opponents 41-12 during the winning streak.

“How about Luis Gil on Saturday?” “Pretty incredible,” Rodón stated. “A fantastic start from Nestor [on Friday]. We have been fortunate in our pitching. Offensively, we’ve been really clicking lately.

“You all know who Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are. Then you see some swings from the other men, and Trevi is swinging the bat extremely good. It’s a bonus to have everything going right now.”