BALTIMORE — The Yankees were coming off two losses in two days at Oriole Park and had to deal with one of the best pitchers in the majors on Wednesday night.
They needed a better version of young right-hander Luis Gil, who was roughed up for five runs in five innings in a loss last weekend in Milwaukee.
They got it.
Gil outdueled Orioles ace Corbin Burnes by pitching shutout ball against a lethal lineup for a career-long 6 1/3 innings.
The Yankees also needed someone in their lineup to do have a night after it was held to two solo homers and 12 hits the previous two nights.
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They got it.
Early-season hero Oswaldo Cabrera homered just inside the right-field foul pole with a man on in the fifth inning for the only runs of the game.
This was a big 2-0 win for the Yankees, who beat the O’s No. 1 starter with their No. 5 to avoid dropping the first three games of a showdown series between the top two AL East clubs that ends Thursday afternoon. The win has the Yankees back in a tie with Baltimore for first place.
Batting ninth and playing third base, Cabrera was 2-for-3 with a homer and a steal after beginning the series 0-for-7 and batting .147 over his previous nine games.
In the Yankees’ fifth, Jose Trevino reached on an infield single to short with two outs. Cabrera followed by lining a first-pitch, 95-mph fastball that was inside and belt high to deep right that carried over the 21-foot-high wall and just stayed fair.
A replay review confirmed the blast stayed on the right side of the foul pole.
The two runs were more than enough with Gil, Caleb Ferguson, Ian Hamilton and Clay Holmes combining on a three-hit shutout.
Holmes rescued the Yankees in the eighth with striking out the Orioles’ best two hitters, Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, to kill a two-on, one-out threat.
The inning started with Hamilton walking Cedric Mullins and hitting Heston Kjerstad to put the tying runs on base with nobody out, but he…
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