Nestor as nasty as Yankees need in win over Astros

NEW YORK -- It had been 67 days since Nestor Cortes last touched an MLB mound, a long couple of months that saw the Yankees continually trying to adjust to life without their lefty. On Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, the 28-year-old returned, rushed back from his rehab assignments, and showed why he’s one of the linchpins for New York’s American League Wild Card push.

While getting healthy was his priority, part of the reason Cortes was OK with coming back to the rotation early was because he was already counting down the days before he could pitch again.

“For sure, 60-something days was too long,” he said.

Before the game, manager Aaron Boone said Cortes would be under some sort of a pitch limit after skipping his final rehab start. The southpaw made the most of his truncated outing, dazzling through an electric four innings. He struck out a season-high eight Astros in the 3-1 win, allowing just one hit and one run on a solo homer by Jose Altuve.

“That’s Nestor right there at his best,” said Boone. “Obviously he was not built up yet, but that’s what it looks like. Crisp with the fastball, getting it to where he wanted to get it, the cutter, slowing them down a little bit with the slider. I thought he was really, really sharp.”

While it may have been brief, Saturday’s outing may have been Cortes’ most effective of 2023, at least in terms of “stuff.” He produced a season-high 17 swings and misses (the most since he had 20 on Oct. 1 of last year), and also reached a season high with his four-seam fastball velocity (95.6 mph). Per Statcast, the average velocity was up on both his four-seam and cutter, while the spin rates on four of his five pitches had also increased.

While Boone doesn’t put much stock in the radar gun for Cortes, it was impossible for the lefty not to notice the difference in his pitches. Cortes knew it was going to be a good day when he was in the outfield playing catch before the game.

“Felt like I was a lot stronger than where I was three months ago, even to start the season …” said Cortes. “No type of soreness, no type of aches. I knew that if I was in a good spot with my arm, I was going to be able to command most of my pitches as well as I did today.”

Cortes can provide a sliver of stability for a rotation unsettled by Domingo Germán’s placement on the restricted list and Luis Severino’s struggles. If Cortes can remain healthy and hold onto the consistency that made him successful in 2022, he could become the Yankees’ saving grace.

“Nestor’s been a really good piece -- he’s proven that since he went into the rotation since the middle part of ‘21,” said Boone. “In the midst of all that [injury concern] early in the season, he was showing that he’s the old guy, too. It’s a huge lift. That’s why we’ve been looking forward to getting him back, because we know what he’s capable of.”

Cortes was backed by another solid effort from the Yankees’ bullpen, which continues to lead the Majors with a 3.03 ERA. Ian Hamilton worked two scoreless innings, striking out four, while Tommy Kahnle and Michael King notched a scoreless inning apiece. Clay Holmes shut the door for his 16th save of the year.

The Yankees’ relievers allowed just one hit over five innings, lowering the relief staff’s opposing batting average to a Majors-best .215.

“We didn’t muster too much offense,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker, whose lineup struck out 16 times on Saturday. “Usually we don’t strike out that much, but they were dealing over there. Nestor had us off balance, and their bullpen -- which was good all year -- was good today.”

Jake Bauers continued his torrid stretch, crushing a solo homer -- his 11th of the season -- into the second deck to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning. Bauers has remained a revelation for the Yankees, rocking a 1.111 OPS in the past seven games. Gleyber Torres also added some much-needed insurance with his 17th homer of the season on an opposite-field blast in the eighth inning.

The Yankees had an opportunity to score more in the third inning, after Giancarlo Stanton laced a two-out double and DJ LeMahieu followed it up with a line-drive single to center field. But Mauricio Dubón gathered the ball and fired it to home plate, and Stanton -- who was moving on contact -- was thrown out by a wide margin, pulling up short before getting tagged and eliciting boos from the crowd.

Following the game, Boone shared that Stanton is healthy and that he didn’t get a great turn when rounding third, but the skipper agreed with the send by third-base coach Luis Rojas.