The New York Yankees crushed the Milwaukee Brewers 20-9 on Saturday as the Bronx Bombers hit a franchise record nine home runs. The Yankees gave former teammate Nestor Cortes a rude welcome in his return to New York, running him from the game after just two innings.
After the brutal beatdown, Cortes was in no mood to stick around and answer questions about his performance. The new Brewers’ pitcher left Yankee Stadium without meeting with reporters, per The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner on X.
It’s hard to blame Cortes. In his Brewers debut he allowed eight runs on six hits with five walks and two strikeouts in two innings of work. And, notably, he gave up five home runs.
Nestor Cortes has nightmare nightmare debut for Brewers
The outing went bad for Cortes right off the bat. He started the game off by giving up three straight home runs on three consecutive pitches. Paul Goldschmidt hammered a 90 mph four-seam fastball to left center. Then Cody Bellinger deposited another 90 mph fastball over the fence in right center. And finally, reigning MVP Aaron Judge mashed a 88 mph cutter 468 feet to left field.
Later in the first inning, Austin Wells drilled a two-out homer to left center giving the Yankees a 4-0 lead off four solo dingers. Cortes took the mound in the second hoping to settle down and give the Brewers some innings but he surrendered a three-run shot to Anthony Volpe before finally retiring the side.
Cortes came back out to start the third inning but after giving up a leadoff walk, he was taken out of the game. He departed with New York up 7-3. But the Yankees were just getting started.
Judge had three home runs on the day as he terrorized Brewers’ pitchers, going 4-6 with eight RBI and four runs scored. Jazz Chisholm Jr. joined the home run derby in the third inning and Oswald Peraza went deep in the seventh.
Cortes spent five seasons with the Yankees, making the All-Star Game in 2022. However, he was traded to the Brewers as part of the package that brought closer Devin Williams to New York this offseason.
While his debut with Milwaukee was a disaster, he wasn’t the only Brewers pitcher who struggled against the Yankees Saturday. The bullpen gave up four homers and 12 runs in five innings after Cortes was removed.
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