TAMPA – Nestor Cortes didn’t have his best stuff on Saturday.
That became clear on the first pitch he threw, as Yandy Díaz crushed the southpaw’s fastball 401 feet to left field for a leadoff home run. It wouldn’t be the last time the Rays went deep off Cortes in what became a 7-2, series-tying win for Tampa.
The Yankees responded to Díaz’s homer in the second inning when Anthony Volpe produced a two-run single with the bases loaded. However, Trent Grisham ran into an inning-ending out on the play, killing any chance the Yankees had at adding on with Juan Soto due up.
“I don’t think he saw the ball well off the bat and was probably thinking maybe there’s a play at the plate, which obviously there wasn’t,” Aaron Boone said of Grisham’s blunder. “But just a mistake there.”
With the damage limited, the Rays then tagged Cortes for three more runs in the third when Randy Arozarena launched a dinger of his own off the starter.
Cortes ended up leaving the game after 5.1 innings, five hits and four earned runs. He also walked three and struck out five while totaling 89 pitches.
Afterward, Boone noted that Cortes didn’t have great command of his fastball.
“I thought he actually kind of righted the ship a little bit and got it going a little bit there in the middle of the game there,” Boone said. “But just early on, it just seemed like he had a hard time getting that fastball at the top rail like he normally does so well.”
Meanwhile, Cortes wasn’t happy with his early-inning command in any part of the zone, though he felt things improved after he made a mechanical tweak following the third inning.
Cortes wasn’t thrilled with home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus, either. The pitcher acknowledged that after the game, though he didn’t blame the official for his subpar performance.
“From my point of view, it looked like a couple of strikes could have been called,” Cortes said. “But I mean, I don’t think that determined the whole game of mine. I just gotta make better pitches and find that fastball a little earlier.
“It’s a little frustrating when you want a call and you don’t get it, but it’s part of the game.”
With a few things not going his way, Cortes saw his ERA rise to 4.02 on Saturday.
The outing also continued a noticeable trend: Cortes has been much better at home than on the road. Cortes has a 1.59 ERA at Yankee Stadium this season, but he entered his latest start with a 6.75 road ERA before giving up the four earned runs.
“Honestly, I haven’t even looked at it,” Cortes said when asked about his splits. “But I’m imagining because of that question, I pitch better at home. I don’t know. I just gotta make the adjustment of being on the road and pitching. There’s nothing else to it. I feel the same. I prepare the same.”
While Cortes finished up sooner than he would have liked, Díaz and Arozarena weren’t done after their home runs. The Cuban duo each recorded RBI doubles with Dennis Santana on the mound in the seventh. Arozarena then scored when Isaac Paredes lifted a sacrifice fly to right field.
“You know what they’re capable of,” Boone said of the Rays’ Nos. 1 and 2 hitters. “They’re really good hitters, and they made a big difference in them winning the game today.”
The Yankees, meanwhile, didn’t score again following Volpe’s knock, which came against Rays starter Zack Littell.
Littell tallied 5.2 innings, four hits, two earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts over 80 pitches before giving way to Tampa’s bullpen.
The Yankees came feet away from a closer game in the seventh when Soto squarely hit a ball to deep center field with two men on. It initially looked as if Soto would clear the fence, but Jose Siri caught the ball at the back of the warning track.
“Two balls, 108 [mph] to that spot,” Boone, in disbelief, said after Aaron Judge fell short of a homer in similar fashion on Saturday. “It’s a little — yeah, I mean, those are homers.”
With the series knotted up, the Yankees will turn to Luis Gil on Sunday before making their way to Minnesota.
The 25-year-old is coming off two impressive starts, outdueling Cy Young winners Corbin Burnes and Justin Verlander while holding the O’s and ‘Stros to three hits and one earned run over 12.1 innings. Gil, in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, has a 2.92 ERA through seven starts.
The Rays had not announced their Sunday starter by the end of Saturday’s game.
