Nestor Cortes off his game as Yankees fall to Twins
Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes throws during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday, June 8, 2022, in Minneapolis. Credit: Stacy Bengs
MINNEAPOLIS — Every pitcher has nights like these.
But because it had been so long since Nestor Cortes had one, it still came as a bit of a shock.
For the first time this season — and for the first time since last August, really — Cortes didn’t have it.
That on a night the offense didn’t, either, leading to the end of the Yankees’ seven-game winning streak, an 8-1 loss to the Twins Wednesday night in front of 22,286 at Target Field.
Cortes, who came in with the lowest ERA in the majors (1.50), saw his streak of 19 straight starts in which he allowed three runs or fewer — dating to last Aug. 10 at Kansas City — come to an end. It was the second-longest such streak in Yankees history behind Russ Ford’s 20 straight from Aug. 9, 1910-May 27, 1911.
“I felt pretty good the first three innings, I was commanding all of my pitches, threw them to the right areas,” said Cortes, who actually retired the first nine he faced. “There was a few that got away from me in the fourth and fifth inning I wish I could get back. But they’re a good hitting team and they made me battle all night.”
Cortes (5-2, 1.96), not getting nearly as many swings and misses with his cutter, allowed a season-high four runs and seven hits — his second-highest total this season — in 4 1⁄3 innings in which he struck out three and did not walk a batter.
“At the end of the day, this was my 11th start of the season, there’s going to be ups and downs,” Cortes said.
The Yankees, still an MLB-best 40-16, were outhit by the AL Central-leading Twins, 11-4.
Giancarlo Stanton, who had a tough night in rightfield — a position he played regularly and well during the first eight seasons of his career — wasn’t interested in exploring Cortes’ struggles.
“If you don’t have the best defensive plays and you make an inning a little longer for him, sometimes that happens,” Stanton said. “I was definitely [ticked] off. I haven’t had a day like that in the field] in a long time, if ever.”
Stanton had, he believes, three misplayed balls. The first came in the fourth. Byron Buxton led off with a single — the first hit by either team — and Carlos Correa, making his return Wednesday from the COVID IL, dumped a single to right. Cortes got Jorge Polanco to fly to left but former Yankee Gio Urshela launched one just over Stanton’s head in right. The ball, which Stanton appeared to have a play on, landed at the base of the wall and the Twins (33-25) had a 1-0 lead. Jose Miranda followed with an infield single that scored Correa to make it 2-0.
After DJ LeMahieu’s sacrifice fly in the fifth made it 2-1, the Twins drove Cortes from the game in the bottom half. Ryan Jeffers blasted a cutter off the facing of the third deck in left, his fourth homer making it 3-1. Cortes struck out Nick Gordon looking but Buxton crushed a slider to center, his 13th homer making it 4-1 and ending the pitcher’s night.
It marked just the third time this season a Yankees starter allowed multiple homers. Righty Clarke Schmidt came on and retired two straight to end the inning, but allowed four runs and three hits in 1 2⁄3 innings as the lead ballooned to 8-1.
Stanton’s rough night in the field continued in the sixth. Urshela led off and sent another drive to right that Stanton made an awkward attempt at near the wall, the ball falling for a double. Miranda then flared one toward the rightfield line that a hard-charging Stanton couldn’t quite get to, the double putting Urshela on third. With the infield in, Max Kepler hit a ground shot at Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who couldn’t quite handle it cleanly, settling for the out at first with Urshela scoring on the play to make it 5-1. Pinch hitter Trevor Larnach’s RBI double off the wall in left made it 6-1.
“I have to make those plays to put us in a better position to not let the game [get] away,” Stanton said. “Wasn’t my best night out there . . . mistakes that can’t happen again.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
More Yankees headlines
