Nasty Nestor Dominates, Yankees Take 3/4 Against White Sox
Cortes throws eight innings of one-run ball in a 5–1 win
Following a disappointing loss last night, the New York Yankees made sure to flip the script Sunday afternoon in their 5–1 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Nestor Cortes, Jr. (2–1) continued his remarkable campaign with eight strong innings of one-run ball on three hits.
He struck out seven and didn’t walk anyone. He earned his second win of the season and lowered his AL-leading ERA to 1.35.
“He’s just doing what Nestor does,” Jose Trevino, who caught Cortes, Jr, said.
“He’s locating all his pitches, mixing speeds, and executing pitches.”
It’s the Yankees’ eighth series win in a row and sit at 25–9, the best in the major leagues.
Game summary
The Yankees looked to break the game open early in the second with the bases loaded and did so without swinging the bat.
Walks to Aaron Hicks and DJ LeMahieu scored two, and Trevino scored on a wild pitch to make it 3–0.
Chicago registered one of their three hits off Cortes, Jr. in the eighth on Adam Engel’s first homer of the year.
New York only had one hit through eight innings, but Joey Gallo blasted a two-run shot in the ninth to give it their second hit and extend the lead to 5–1.
Cortes, Jr. threw 99 pitches and was replaced by Clay Holmes who gave up a hit but threw a scoreless ninth to end the game.
Offensive notes
It’s the second day in a row and not much offense to show, but somehow five runs were put up.
They are now 16–0 when scoring five or more runs.
Gallo seems to be getting more comfortable at the plate, hitting two of his home runs this series and limiting his strikeouts.
The next three series will be the biggest test for Gallo and could determine how the rest of his season goes.
New York will face the Baltimore Orioles twice and the White Sox again next weekend.
It hopefully will get the Yankee offense back on track as well as five of the last seven games have been a struggle to get hits and runs.
Pitching notes
Cortes, Jr. is making a strong case for Cy Young early in the season.
Since May 30, 2021, Cortes, Jr. has an AL-best 2.44 ERA and has allowed three or fewer runs in 16 straight starts, tying Luis Severino in 2018 for the second-longest streak in Yankee history.
He was also helped out by his defense as Josh Donaldson made a spectacular diving play to steal an out in the sixth.
Both starters and relievers are doing their fair share and bailing out the Yankee offense in many games this year.
If both pitching and offense can click, which we saw in the first two games of this series, then this team is nearly unbeatable.
Looking ahead
Luis Severino (2–0, 4.08 ERA) will start the fifth game of this eight-game road trip in Baltimore.
Kyle Bradish (1–1, 4.24 ERA) will face the Yankee offense. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST.
New York is 4–2 against the Orioles this year and will look to keep adding to their MLB-best record.
Let’s go Yankees!
