The New York Yankees are loving it when pitchers like Nestor Cortes are enjoying a great start this season. Last year was not kind to Cortes, Carlos Rodon, and even the whole team. It was a season not worth remembering. First of all, they failed to make the postseason. It was the first time the 27-time World Series champions could not make the postseason since 2016. Moreover, the NY side finished with an awful 82-80 record. In fact, it was their worst season in the last 30 years. On top of that, they finished fourth in the American League East division. Hence, nothing really went in their favor last season.
There were a lot of doubts regarding the starting pitching lineup ahead of the 2024 regular season. First of all, the ace Gerrit Cole was unavailable owing to a right elbow injury. And then, the starting rotation looked a bit shaky. Nevertheless, the starting pitchers of the Yankees have dominated the league so far in terms of ERA. They have helped their strong offense get a lot of wins this season. Hence, the pitching department has been instrumental as the Yankees are enjoying the best record in the American League at the moment. Nestor Cortes has been special at home so far.
Nestor Cortes Had Another Great Game At Home
Currently, the Yankees are playing a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners. In the first two games, a couple of pitchers let the Bronx Bombers down. On Monday, the closer, Clay Holmes, had a horrific ninth inning that wasted all the great efforts of Marcus Stroman. From a 4-1 lead, the Yankees lost the game 5-4. Later, on Tuesday, starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt tried too many things that didn’t work in the end. Finally, the Mariners blew the home team 6-3. But thanks to Nestor Cortes on Wednesday, the Yankees were able to fight back and get a win after back-to-back home game losses.
So far, in the ongoing season, Cortes had been a bit too special at the Yankee Stadium. He pitched five scoreless innings on Wednesday to help the Yankees win 7-3. The Yankees starter just gave away three hits, and three walks. But in return, Cortes got six strikeouts. According to the New York Post, Nestor Cortes, in his post-game interview, mentioned that it was the hardest he ever threw a fastball and a cutter. The only flaw of Cortes was his high pitch count. Throughout his first three innings, he had pitched 74. In the next two, he was a bit quicker. Overall, he threw 97 pitches. Later, Tommy Kahnle replaced Cortes in the sixth inning.
Yankees Manager Was In All Praise For The Starter
Aaron Boone said in the post-game interview as per the New York Post that Cortes really had some good stuff on Wednesday. Moreover, the Yankees manager felt that the starting pitcher had some extra power. In fact, the fastball was a little bit “Fuzzy” in Game 3. Moreover, Boone added that the cutter and all was pretty uptick of Nestor Cortes. Finally, the skipper said, “Cortes really set the tone for us tonight.”
After Game 3 against the Seattle Mariners, Nestor Cortes maintained the stark splits for his home and away record in the current season. After six starts at the Yankee Stadium this season, Cortes has pitched 40 1/3 innings. He has only given away five earned runs. As a result, his ERA is low as 1.11 at home.
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