Luis Gil struck out a career-high 14 batters, Juan Soto went 4-for-4 with two home runs, and the New York Yankees extended their winning streak to a season-high six games with a 6-1 victory over visiting Chicago White Sox on Saturday afternoon.
It was the 18th multi-homer of Soto’s career and first with the Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run, doubled and drove in two runs and Jose Trevino also homered for New York which improved to 15-6 at home.
Gill (5-1) became the 16th pitcher in Yankee history to strike out at least 14 batters in a game. He also set the franchise rookie record, breaking the mark set of 13 set by Orlando Hernandez in 1998.
At the outset, Gil had to overcome a 29-pitch first inning that saw him allow three hits, including a bloop RBI double down the left field line to Andrew Benintendi. He also allowed a walk before striking out Korey Lee to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
Gil struck out seven batters in a row between the fourth and sixth innings, just one off the team record of eight in a row set by Ron Davis on May 4, 1981. He left after allowing one run on five hits and a walk over six innings, while winning his fourth consecutive start.
Tommy Pham had a double among his two hits and Gavin Sheets also had two hits for Chicago, which lost its second straight game and fell for the fourth time in the last six games.
The White Sox’s Brad Keller (0-2) allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits, including four home runs, over four-plus innings. He walked one and struck out four.
After Benintendi gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in top of the first, the Yankees rebounded to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom half on a solo homer buy Soto, a 417-foot drive to right-center, and a line-drive RBI double by Stanton to right-center, driving in Aaron Judge who singled.
New York extended the lead to 4-1 in the second. Trevino lined his fifth homer of the season, and third in four games, down the left-field line to make it 3-1. Soto added an RBI single.
Stanton made it 5-1 in the third when he lined his 11th home run to right-center. Soto hit his 11th of the season and second in the game leading off the fifth, a 437-foot drive to right-center, to extend the lead to 6-1.
