Cortes Throws Down Again. Judge D Turns HR Into DP. NY 5 Washington 2

August 27, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0

Nestor Cortes pitched a shutout into the 7th for the 3rd straight outing, and was helped by tremendous Yankee defense to gain a 5-2 win over the Nationals on a warm Monday night in Washington.

Aaron Judge didn’t hit a homer but leaped over the fence in center to steal a homer, then throw it in for a double play to end the 4th. His play overshadowed a tremendous catch by Alex Verdugo, who slammed into the wall in left for an out in the 2nd that saved a run from scoring. Judge also made a terrific catch in DEEP center to end the 2nd and prevent that same run from scoring. And Austin Wells picked a runner off 2nd base in the 5th.

Offense was provided by Gleyber Torres, who led off the game with a homer; Austin Wells, who hit a blast in the 6th; Jazz Chisholm, who hit an insurance homer in the 8th, Anthony Volpe, who engineered runs in the 4th and 6th — getting to 3rd base with hits, aggressive baserunning, and a steal of 3rd; and DJ LeMahieu who got Volpe in both times by getting the ball in the air for sac flies.

Jake Cousins was tough in the 8th, and Clay Holmes created minor agita by going 3-2 on two batters in the 9th, but pitched a 1-2-3 inning for the save.

“I don’t think I would go as long in the game as I did if it wasn’t for those amazing catches that were made out there,” said Nestor Cortes afterwards. “It was very humid; someone told me it was 78 degrees but it felt like 100 out there — but I was able to control that; control people that got on by making some really good pitches when I needed to, and that’s what me through the 5th and 6th.”

NY improves to 78-54 and moves to 2 games over Baltimore in the East. Washington falls to 59-73.

1. Gleyber Leads Off with Homer

Knock knock. Who’s there? Gleyber Torres as your leadoff man — who has been consistently terrific at the plate the 2nd half of the season and is now slashing 12-50-.242 (.320 OBP). Torres hit a homer off Washington starter Mitchell Parker — a 24-year-old, 6’4 lefty who entered with 7-7 4.26 record — and it was 1-0 Yankees.

2. Cortes the Conqueror

Nestor Cortes took the mound and was in command from the start, his fastball crackling and his cutter elite — the Nationals were 2-16 against his fastball-cutter combo. He said after his last start — a 2nd consecutive 7-shutout performance — that he had made adjustments to his mind set and felt that had improved his pitching; just being more confident and positive out there, as he felt in prior starts he was getting bit by bad luck.

And his luck has changed as he got a lot of help from his friends on Yankee defense.

Verdugo & Judge Save Run with Great Catches

In the 2nd, with a runner on 2nd after a leadoff double, Alex Verdugo made love to the wall in left — slamming into it as he made a catch on a line drive headed off it by catcher Keibert Ruiz — keeping the runner (Andres Chaparro) on 2nd.

Chaparro never scored — Cortes got a fly out to right, and then a fly out to DEEP centerfield by Jose Tena that Aaron Judge made an Excellent catch on to flag down.

Judge Superman Catch Turns HR into DP

Cortes threw a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd, and then got more help from his Defense in the 4th. After a leadoff walk, then fielder’s choice groundout leaving a runner on 1st with 1 out, Chaparro hit another SHOT this one over the wall in Deep left center — but there was Aaron Judge again — Superman — leaping over the wall to snatch and steal the homer, then fire back in a perfect throw to relay man Gleyber Torres who fired to 1st to just nab the runner for a double play!!!!

Wells Picks Runner Off 2nd

In the 5th, Juan Yepez hit a 1-out shot to 3rd that Jazz Chisholm Jr.  but bobbled, then threw wide of 1st for 2 errors as Yepez went to 2nd. But Austin Wells immediately had his back, and Cortes’s back — picking Yepez off 2nd!

Cortes Houdini Act in 6th — K’s 3

Then in the 6th — Cortes did a Houdini act — after a leadoff single by Vargas and a double by Jacob Young (who is indeed young at 24 yrs old) put 2nd and 3rd, nobody out in a 4-0 game, Cortes struck out 2 consecutive batters, walked a batter to load the bases, then struck out Chaparro (who had hit 2 SHOTS off Cortes earlier) with a 94-MPH four-seam fastball on a 2-2 pitch to end the inning.

Cortes got the 1st out of the 7th and was 2 outs away from his 3rd consecutive 7-inning, 3-hit, shutout performance when Yepez got him for a solo homer (432 feet to left center) and 4-1 game. Cortes got a ground out for the 2nd out but Boone came out and pulled him, bringing in Mark Leiter Jr.who got the final out.

Cortes’s final line: 6.2 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 5 K’s, 2 walks — he wins go to 8-10 3.89.

3. Volpe Engineers Run in 4th; DJ Sac Fly

Meanwhile the Yanks continued to peck at Washington starter Mitchell Parker, the big 6’4 lefty. In the 4th, Anthony Volpe led off with a double to center, moved to 3rd on a groundout by Chisholm, and scored on a sac fly by DJ LeMahieu. NY 2 Washington 0.

4. Wells Picks Off Runner, Hits BLAST

After picking the runner off 2nd to end the bottom of the 5th, Austin Wells led off the top of the 6th. “How many times do you see a player make an exquisite play to end an inning lead off the next inning?!”, asked Rickie Riccardo on the radio as Phil Rizzuto also often asked incredulously.

And just like that Austin Wells hit a ROCKET to left for a 3-0 NY lead.

The homer came off 31-year-old, 6’2 righty Tanner Rainey, who had come in to pitch the 5th. Wells started against the 6’4 lefty Parker and had struck out both times against him.

5. Volpe Engineers Run in 6th; DJ Sac Fly

Next batter after Wells was Anthony Volpe, who lined a single to center and never stopped running — sprinting to 2nd when centerfielder Jacob Young mishandled the ball. Volpe dove in head first, his batting helmet flying off as it usually does — so that it wasn’t on his head when his head banged into the 2nd baseman’s knee. The trainer came out and there was a pause in the action as Volpe had to receive the “how many fingers do you see” treatment.

And then when play resumed, Volpe stole 3rd base (after Chisholm fouled out). Next batter DJ LeMahieu — who all season long was hitting grounder after grounder and never getting the ball in the air — hit another ball in the air for a sac fly to left. NY 4 Washington 0.

6. Chisholm Insurance HR in 8th

After Cortes allowed the homer in the bottom of the 7th to make it 4-1, Jazz Chisholm Jr.got the run right back with a homer to right in the top of the 8th. NY 5 Washington 1.

7. Cousins Relieves Leiter

But Mark Leiter Jr.gave the run right back, coughing up a leadoff homer to Jacob Young to start the bottom of the 8th, making it a 5-2 game, Yankees leading.

Leiter got a ground out for the 1st out of the inning, and was relieved by NFL star Kirk Cousins’ cousin Jake Cousins who got the final 2 outs of the inning sandwiching a walk.

8. Holmes with a 1-2-3 Save

And then it was to the 9th, and Yankee fans all over buckled up for the Clay Holmes rollercoaster ride.

And Holmes immediately ratcheted everyone up to the first hill on his Cyclone — going 3-2 in a 9-pitch at bat to the 1st batter Ruiz — but instead of walking him got him to line out to right. PHEW. One out.

Holmes then went 3-0 to the next batter, Luis Garcia Jr. before coming back with 2 straight strikes. Then 2 foul balls on a 3-2 pitch. And then a groundout. PHEW. Two outs.

Finally, a first-pitch strike to Jose Tena, and then on 2nd pitch a groundout back to Holmes who flipped to LeMahieu for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401570440

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