The Yankees were up 5-1 over Baltimore to start the 7th inning with Nestor Cortes on the mound and cruising.
A walk and a single started off the 7th, and then Adam Frazier hit a fly to right that hit the foul pole for a 3-run homer and 5-4 game.
Gone was Nestor at 89 pitches and in came Jimmy Cordero — and the hits kept coming. Single, single, double, walk and he was gone for Albert Abreu. More singles followed and before the inning was over, Baltimore scored 8 runs and was leading 9-5.
The inning went from manager Aaron Boone leaving Cortes in too long, to Boone should have left Cortes in longer.
The Yanks came right back to score a run and load the bases with only 1 out in the bottom of the 7th, but failed to score additional runs.
It all ruined a feel good night to that point, with 2 homeruns by Gleyber Torres and Isiah Kiner-Falefa threatening to hit for the cycle.
“Another strong outing against a good team by Nestor,” encouraged manager Aaron Boone afterwards when asked how he’d characterize Cortes’s start. “I know it was bad there a little bit at the end, but you take a step back and look at how he threw the ball and it’s encouraging. He was great in the 6th inning against their best hitters. He had a 3-game stretch there where he was scuffling. I don’t think it’s anything more than that.”
NY falls to 30-21; Baltimore improves to 32-17. NY is 6 games back of Tampa.
1. Gleyber Bomb #1
Gleyber Torres is a 2-time All Star — making the team as a rookie and in his second season. And he is making a run for it this year as well. He currently leads all American League 2nd basemen in homers, and is 2nd in OBP, OPS, and slugging. He is 4th amongst 2nd basemen in batting average. He is slashing
In the 3rd, he hit a 2-run bomb to center off Orioles 6’8 right hander Tyler Wells for a 2-0 Yankee lead, scoring Isiah Kiner-Falefa who had tripled in front of him.
Gleyber Gone 💪 pic.twitter.com/oTyOmxVCB2
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 25, 2023
2. Kiner-Falefa-Gleyber Show
Kiner-Falefa and Gleyber continued to put on a show in the 5th. Anthony Volpe led off with a walk, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a 389-foot bomb to center. NY 4 Baltimore 1.
The Hawaiian Hustle brings the Muscle. @Isiahkf11 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CiPLGXrNA4
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 25, 2023
After a Kyle Higashioka strikeout, Gleyber followed with a homer to left — his 9th homerun of the season. NY 5 Baltimore 1.
Twice, Twice, Gleyby 🤟 pic.twitter.com/gGsZsxszgw
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 25, 2023
3. Cortes Terrific — Until 3rd Time Thru Order
Meanwhile Nestor Cortes looked very solid on the mound — his old self. He retired the first 7 batters of the game. He allowed a walk and a single in the 3rd, but picked a runner off 1st to end the inning. Cortes allowed a solo homer to Ryan Mountcastle in the 4th, but otherwise it was pretty smooth sailing.
Cortes pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 5th and struck out the first 2 guys of the 6th — although he then allowed a single and had to rear back and strike out the last batter.
Then came the walk to lead off the 7th. Austin Hays then ripped a 110-MPH single just past and under the glove of Anthony Volpe at shortstop. And then the homer by Adam Frazier that hit the foul pole. Many Yankee fans on Twitter expressed that after rearing back to get the final strikeout of the 6th — Nestor looked tired and Boone should have lifted him after the walk, and certainly after the single in the 7th.
Jimmy Cordero came in with gasoline: single, single, double, strikeout, walk — and he was gone. Baltimore 6 NY 5 with 1st and 2nd, still only 1 out.
In came Albert Abreu and 2 more singles followed, and it was Baltimore 9 NY 5. Aaron Judge was somehow charged with an error on his throw home — which was a pretty good throw — but the ball got away from Kyle Higashioka allowing the runner to advance and the official scorer somehow blamed Judge.
Could you believe the official scorers gave Aaron Judge an error on this throw?
That’s astonishing. pic.twitter.com/FLB9NGo9z0
— Mike Daddino (@mike_daddino) May 25, 2023
Worst inning of the season.
“I don’t think it reflects the way I threw,” said Nestor afterwards about the results. “I felt great. Still felt with power in the 7th. I feel like I still made a lot of competitive pitches in the 7th. Wans’t like Toronto where 4 straight balls. The ball that Frazier hit, I thought was well located for who I was facing and what my heater does. He was getting beat out there on the heater. I feel like he wanted to cheat on it a little bit, and it was probably more middle than I probably wanted it but still in a good spot. That ball 2 inches away he probably pops it up.”
4. Yanks Load Bases in 7th
The Yanks came right back to load the bases with only 1 out on a wild Mychal Givens (walk, hit by pitch, walk). But the Orioles brought in Danny Coulombe. He allowed an RBI single to Anthony Rizzo, but then struck out DJ LeMahieu and got Harrison Bader to groundout to end the threat. Baltimore 9 NY 6.
5. Baltimore Backend Shut NY Down
Coulombe pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 8th, and Felix Bautista shut down NY in the 9th — walking Aaron Judge with 2 outs but NY never brought the tying run to the plate.
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401471752
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