The New York Yankees started the 2024 season well, but they have been a little bit inconsistent. Clearly, the team is depending on their offense greatly at this point as they are playing without their ace pitcher. It might take another month or so for Gerrit Cole to return to the rotation. The 2023 American League Cy Young winner suffered a right elbow injury during the Spring Training that caused inflammation. As a result, he will go on to miss the first two months of the 2024 season. But the problem is that the Yankees don’t have another starting pitcher like Cole, who is as dependable.
Hence, they have to make do with Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, and so on. Since the starting pitching lineup is a bit shaky, a whole lot of pressure and responsibility falls on the offense. The bright side for the Bronx Bombers is that they have one of the best offenses in the league for sure. However, the offense, including Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, has faltered at times. Lately, Oakland Athletics have taken advantage of it. Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes lost in the Bronx after a long time.
Nestor Cortes Had Never Lost In The Bronx Since 2022
On Thursday, the NY side managed to have the lefty Alex Wood on the ropes throughout at the Yankee Stadium. However, the Yankees offense could not get a big hit. Eventually, they lost 3-1 to the Oakland Athletics. As a result, the Yankees had to split the four-game series with the A’s. They won’t meet each other again for another series until September 20-22. That will be a three-game series. But the A’s will be the host the next time. Anyhow, for the Yankees starting pitcher, Thursday’s loss to the Athletics could not have been much worse. Nestor Cortes did not have a losing game at the Yankee Stadium since August 16, 2022, when they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Nestor won the next five games at the Bronx until the last game against the Rays on Saturday. Moreover, Cortes always said that Yankees is “No place like home” for him. On Thursday, he started the game pretty well. But Nestor Cortes ended up giving three runs in seven innings away. He messed it up in the third inning. Cortes had a strike-out when Nick Allen hit a home run to tie the game. The ball went over the left field wall. Then, three batters came and gone. After that, Tyler Nevin managed to hit a two-run shot. The ball went over the right field wall to give the A’s a two-run lead.
What Went Wrong For The Yankees On Thursday?
According to Bill Ladson of MLB.com, Nestor Cortes said in the post-game interview that he thinks they threw a lot of fastballs to Nick Allen. Moreover, Cortes said Tyler Nevin did not look good with the fastball at his first at-bat. Before Nevin hit him for a homer, Cortes pitched a cutter to him. The Yankees starter said Tyler did not look comfortable. After realizing his fault, he said if he went in there again, he would possibly get a different result.
Later, the Yankees manager Aaron Boone mentioned that the A’s is one of those teams who have the quality to bring out good stuff when they have the lead. However, Boone thinks there were a couple of chances that his team should have grabbed. But in the end, they were not able to get through.
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