IKF's pair of 'incredible' center-field catches support Cortes in win

NEW YORK -- Nestor Cortes stood near the back of the mound during the fourth inning on Thursday, glove tucked under his right arm as he squinted toward center field. The encroaching shadows appeared particularly challenging, and a neophyte center fielder would not have been the first player to misread a late-afternoon liner at Yankee Stadium.

But Isiah Kiner-Falefa kept charging, trusting his instincts and preparation, which rewarded him with a glimpse of the ball at the last possible moment. Cortes raised his hands above his head to toast the dazzling catch, one of a pair from Kiner-Falefa in the Yankees' 9-3 victory over the Angels in the Bronx.

“Incredible, with that tough sun behind home plate,” Cortes said of the catches. “I’ve never played center field here, but I’m guessing with those reads that he had, it was kind of tough to see out there. He was able to make two great plays.”

Though that first catch ended the fourth inning, Kiner-Falefa said he felt he made a “more impactful” one in the fifth, ranging toward left-center field for a full-extension diving grab on Taylor Ward’s sacrifice fly that likely saved a run.

It was an impressive play, even if you didn’t know that Kiner-Falefa only began playing center field on St. Patrick’s Day, when he acknowledged that rookies Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza were more likely to make the Yanks’ Opening Day roster at shortstop.

“[The catches] are both new; I’ve never dove or made a play in the outfield or anything like that,” Kiner-Falefa said. “It’s pretty cool for my first time -- being in Yankee Stadium to make a play like that.”

Kiner-Falefa added a two-run single in the seventh, helping New York pull away with a series victory. Though Cortes was not at his nastiest, the lefty continued his run of consistency with another solid performance, logging a quality start by holding the Halos to three runs over six-plus innings, scattering four hits while matching his season high with seven strikeouts.

Cortes kept fellow 2022 All-Stars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout off the basepaths, retiring the superstar duo three times apiece. The lefty has yielded three runs or fewer in 42 of 46 starts since the beginning of the 2021 season, going 17-7 with a 2.65 ERA over that span.

The Yankees staked Cortes to an early lead, peppering Patrick Sandoval for five runs in the first inning. Anthony Rizzo stroked a run-scoring single, one of five times he reached base in the win, and Oswald Peraza worked a bases-loaded walk before Jose Trevino belted an RBI double to the left-center-field wall, clearing the bases.

“My job was to go out there and give my team a chance to win, and that’s exactly what I did,” Cortes said. “It helped with the five runs in the first inning, but I was able to deliver.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that he thought Cortes was “in and out” at times, a comment that the pitcher agreed with. Boone stated that he should have ended his starter’s day after six innings, but he wanted to offer Cortes a chance to get through the bottom of the lineup. Cortes walked Luis Rengifo, who scored when Logan O’Hoppe greeted Ron Marinaccio with a run-scoring double.

“He can just really pitch,” Boone said or Cortes. “Even [when] not necessarily at his best, he’s still able to have that kind of an outing, which speaks to the kind of pitcher he is.”

New York pulled away with three runs in the seventh, including a DJ LeMahieu RBI double and Kiner-Falefa’s two-run knock. Peraza made a nifty defensive play in the top of the eighth, then he stroked an RBI single in the home half.

“All around, we had spectacular plays all over,” Peraza said through an interpreter. “We’re playing good baseball right now.”

The Yankees won two of three games against the Angels, improving to 5-0-1 in series this season. They are the only Major League team not to lose a series this year.

It’s just the third time since 1957 that New York has won or split its first six series, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Yanks won or split each of their first six series in '76 and each of their first nine in 2003.

“We don’t want to lose a series,” Cortes said. “It was very important for us to win this game, and guys came out and executed.”