No loss for Yankees' Nestor Cortes, but he lost it quickly in seventh inning
Nestor Cortes #65 of the New York Yankees pitches during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Nestor Cortes didn’t lose Wednesday night’s game against the Orioles, a brutal 9-6 defeat that featured a seventh inning so ugly the third out earned a sarcastic cheer from the rain-soaked crowd of 39,455 at the Stadium.
Problem was, when Cortes had the chance, he didn’t win it either. Not like the ’22 version of Nasty Nestor, who took delight in not only beating opponents, but demoralizing them by inventing deliveries on the fly.
That Cortes, the All-Star, would have taken care of business Wednesday and nailed down the seventh rather than teeing up a three-run homer to Adam Frazier that lit the match on the eventual bonfire. Instead of leaving merely six outs for the Yankees’ gassed bullpen to piece together with a 5-1 cushion (courtesy of Gleyber Torres’ two homers, and another by Isiah Kiner-Falefa), Cortes made himself part of the problem.
And until we see last season’s Cortes again — the guy who finished eighth in the Cy Young voting a year ago — he’ll remain in the category of Yankees’ concerns. Maybe good enough on most nights outside the powerful AL East, and when the bullpen is rock solid, but suspect a little too often, unable to fiercely protect a lead much past the fifth inning.
“I have high expectations of myself,” said Cortes, whose ERA nudged upward to 5.30, not much better than fill-in rotation-mate Clarke Schmidt (6.00). “I always want to repeat what I did last year. Last year was an incredible year, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Every time out there I’m just trying to give my team a competitive outing for us to score and for us to win. So hopefully we can get that straightened out.”
Cortes isn’t quite there, and on Wednesday night, he didn’t provide much of a warning. He was nearly flawless through the first six innings, allowing just three hits, including a solo homer to Ryan Mountcastle, and needed only 77 pitches. Despite his troubles this season going though the order for a third time, to the tune of a 1.053 OPS at that stage (h/t to stat guru Katie Sharp), Cortes even skated through the sixth with three strikeouts, one to leadoff man Cedric Mullins and another to the No. 3 hitter Mountcastle.
Boone had no reason to hesitate sending Cortes back out for the seventh, and the plan was to get through Frazier, the third batter of that inning. Cortes did — just not the way both he and Boone were hoping for. It was a slight red flag when Cortes issued the opening walk to Anthony Santander, and Austin Hays followed by ripping a 109.6-mph grounder through the left side of the infield. In a different location, maybe that’s a double-play ball, but solidly struck regardless.
Next was the aforementioned Frazier, and when Cortes left a 91-mph four-seamer up in the zone, he pulled it high off the rightfield foul pole for the three-run homer. Unlucky? Perhaps. Frazier’s rainbow was a homer in only two other stadiums, Fenway Park and Oracle Park, but it was enough to end Cortes’ night on a sour note. And make manager Aaron Boone wish he maybe had other bullpen options a smidge sooner.
But the Yankees did have a 5-1 lead, and Cortes was “dominant” to that point, by Boone’s description. There was reason for the manager’s faith. And this game didn’t hinge on sticking with Cortes. It’s more a matter of getting that shutdown effort from the Cortes he once knew, and this guy just couldn’t provide that same finishing touch.
“Obviously it’s a tough one, and a tough loss,” Boone said. “But it was another strong outing against a team for Nestor. I know it goes bad there a little bit at the end, but take a step back and look how he threw the ball, especially coming off his last one. there were encouraging things.”
Boone was referring to Cortes’ previous start, a six-inning, two-run effort in a 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. That’s legit, no question. And the Orioles are no pushover, obviously. But Cortes was being counted on as an ace-caliber starter this season, especially with the early absences of Carlos Rodon and Luis Severino. That hasn’t materialized, and until Cortes reels off a longer stretch of excellence, the doubts are going to linger — much to the Yankees’ detriment.
“I felt a lot better today than I have in the past,” Cortes said. “Felt like the ball was coming out great in the seventh still. Still had more power. Body felt great. Everything unraveled real quick — walk, base hit, homer. And that was it.”
It was the end for Cortes, and the beginning of a hellish eight-run seventh that ultimately doomed the Yankees. Maybe this wasn’t an 'L' for Nestor, but it didn't seem like a great consolation prize, either.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
