On a day when the Yankees were slated to play (at least) 18 innings, the Yankees got it started with a slog of the first nine. 

Between the soggy conditions and a grind of an outing for Luis Gil, it was not always pretty and certainly not efficient. 

But the Yankees made it work in the first game of a doubleheader, thanks to a hot-hitting top of their lineup that led the way to a 5-2 win over the Angels on Wednesday in The Bronx. 

On a day that felt more like April than August, Alex Verdugo, Aaron Judge and Austin Wells each chipped in two hits and an RBI as the Yankees (68-46) won for the eighth time in their past nine games. 

Gil needed a career-high 107 pitches to make it through five innings, but he kept the Angels off the scoreboard by stranding seven runners on base.

The rookie right-hander walked five batters but allowed just two hits and struck out six, making timely pitches when he had to. 

Gil’s outing started with a 30-pitch first inning and a 25-pitch second, but in between the Yankees gave him a lead to work with. 

Verdugo led off the bottom of the first with a double off right-hander Davis Daniel, and one out later Judge drew a full-count walk. 

Though the walk was not (fully) intentional, Wells made Daniel pay for it when he went the other way for a single that put the Yankees up 1-0. 

Then with two outs, Anthony Volpe roped a double to left field that made it a 2-0 lead. 

Oswaldo Cabrera, getting just his seventh start of the season at second base to spell Gleyber Torres in the first game of the twinbill, added to the lead in the second by crushing a solo home run to right field. 

Manager Aaron Boone said before the game that Cabrera had “earned some opportunities” after performing well in sporadic playing time.

After going 1-for-3 with a walk Wednesday, the utility man is now batting .302 with a .819 OPS over his past 18 games. 

The Yankees wasted a prime chance in the third, after Wells and Judge reached second and third with no outs, but they came back for more in the fourth. 

Ben Rice led off with a walk and scored one out later on Verdugo’s double to the gap to make it 4-0.

And with two outs, Judge drilled a bullet through the left side to put the Yankees up 5-0. 

The Angels finally got on the board in the seventh when Zach Neto crushed a two-run homer off reliever Jake Cousins. 

That forced the Yankees to use Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes for the final two innings, but both relievers struck out a pair in perfect frames to finish off the win.