Cortes 7 Shutout Innings; Soto & Judge HR’s Propel Yanks. NY 8 Cleveland 1

August 23, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0

Thank F’ng God for Nestor Cortes.

And Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.

For the 2nd start in a row, Cortes threw 7 shutout innings and was aided by offense provided by Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. This time, Cortes ended a 3-game losing streak, which saw the Yanks squander a win the night before in a horrible 12-inning loss.

In that last start, Cortes beat the White Sox 4-1 while Juan Soto hit 3 homeruns and drove in all 4 runs.

In this start, Juan Soto hit a homer and drove in 5 runs, and Aaron Judge hit 2 homers and drove in 3 — the two accounting for all 8 Yankee RBI’s. Judge now has 47 homeruns, and is on a pace for 60 homeruns.

On a beautiful Wednesday night in the Bronx, under a just-beginning-to-wane Blue Supermoon.

“Throughout the whole year you have to tweak; you almost have to reinvent yourself throughout the whole season — it’s a long season for starters,” said Cortes afterwards. “I feel I found a little something the last 2 and hopefully I continue to do so. It’s more like a feel thing — being comfortable out there; mentally being prepared; staying positive throughout that little run I had where things weren’t falling my way.”

“Today I relied on the fastball and cutter command,” added Cortes.

NY improves to 74-53 and leapfrogs the Orioles into 1st place by .5 game. Cleveland falls to 73-53.

1. Nestor is Nasty

For the 2nd straight time, Nestor Cortes threw down 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball. He has rebounded in a big way after being knocked out in the 5th by the Angels 2 weeks ago.

Nestor, flashing his beautiful green Statue of Liberty glove, motored through the Cleveland lineup — pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 1st, allowing a leadoff single in the 2nd but then erasing the runner on a double play, and pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd and 4th.

By the 5th, Cortes was up 7-0, and after getting the first 2 outs of the inning, allowed consecutive singles before getting the final out.

Cortes finished strong — 1-2-3 innings in the 6th and 7th. An utterly dominant performance. He improves his record to 7-10 4.00.

2. Soto HR in 1st Puts NY Up 2-0

Meanwhile the Yanks were up against Joey Cantillo, a 24-year-old, 6’4 lefty rookie and they pounced. Gleyber Torres led off the bottom of the 1st with a single, and Juan Soto hit a 427-foot BOMB to center. NY 2 Cleveland 0. It was Soto’s 36th homer of the year — a career high.

3. Judge HR in 3rd Puts NY Up 4-0

In the bottom of the 3rd, Juan Soto walked, and Aaron Judge belted a 378-foot homer to opposite-field right center for a 4-0 NY lead.

3. Soto Check-Swing 3-RBI Double in 4th

In the 4th, Alex Verdugo and Oswald Peraza worked 1-out walks against Cantillo, and then after Ben Rice struck out, Gleyber Torres reached on an infield single to load the bases with 2 outs.

Juan Soto checked his swing on a 79-MPH 3-2 changeup and knocked it down the 3rd base line — driving in all 3 runs for a 7-0 Yankee lead.

4. Judge HR #2 in 7th

The Soto-Judge fireworks weren’t over: Judge hit his 2nd homer of the night, and 47th of the season, off Eli Morgan in the 7th for an 8-0 Yankee lead.

5. Mayza Wraps Up

Up 8-0, the Yanks brought in lefty reliever Tim Mayza for the 8th — Mayza who had lost the game the night before in the 12th. And this time, Mayza allowed a homer to the 1st batter he faced — rightfielder Jhonkensey Noel.

There was immediate 2nd-guessing of manager Aaron Boone for taking out Cortes, who was pitching a shutout and cruising, despite the fact that he was at 104 pitches.

Mayza nipped the controversy in the bud by pitching a shutout 8th — strikeout, hit by pitch, fly out, ground out — and then getting 3 straight groundouts in the 9th for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401570370

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