It was a rough return to the Bronx for Nestor Cortes.
Now of the Milwaukee Brewers, the left-hander surrendered five home runs in Saturday’s 20-9 loss to the Yankees, including solo shots on each of his first three pitches.
“He didn’t execute,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He didn’t throw the ball good. He’d be the first to tell you.”
Cortes, however, left Yankee Stadium without addressing the media, according to a Brewers spokesman.
He allowed eight runs in two-plus innings in his first start since the Yankees traded him to Milwaukee in December in a package for closer Devin Williams.
Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge went back-to-back-to-back to begin the game, and Austin Wells added another solo blast for the Yankees’ fourth home run of the first inning.
Anthony Volpe then struck a three-run homer in the second inning against Cortes, who issued five walks and allowed six hits against two strikeouts.
“We know Nestor,” said Judge, who went 4-for-6 with three homers and eight RBI.
“Nestor’s been here for years. He’s one of the best lefty pitchers in the game. He’s a guy that’s gonna go out there and throw strikes, attack you, so we just tried to go out there and be aggressive in our zone.”
Added Goldschmidt, who is in his first year with the Yankees, “I got a chance to face him last year, coming here with St Louis, and there was a lot of familiarity with the guys that played with him. … There was a lot of familiarity, I’ll put it that way.”
The Yankees drafted Cortes, 30, in 2013, but it wasn’t until his third stint with the organization that he stuck.
He pitched to a 3.33 ERA over 93 games, including 84 starts, with the Yankees from 2021-24 and earned an All-Star selection in 2022.
“We’re in competition out there, and it’s [all about] the game once that happens, but I want him to have a great year, and there’s no reason he won’t go and have a great year,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
“I know how competitive he is. You’re gonna take your lumps in this game if you play long enough. It’s just one game. He’ll be alright.”
The Yankees traded Cortes after their offseason signing of Max Fried created a surplus of starting pitching.
“Once we landed and bussed into the city, it brought back some good memories,” Cortes said Thursday during his first of two scrums with reporters that day.
“I miss it a little, but everything’s good.”
Murphy suspected Cortes feeling amped up to face his old team may have added to his struggles, but he didn’t think the Yankees had a tell on their former pitcher.
“The only tell they had was the ball wasn’t cutting,” Murphy said, “and he didn’t throw the ball where he wanted to [or] on the side of the plate he wanted to.”
