About Last Night: Nestor is Nifty. Yanks Win.

by Paul Semendinger

May 27, 2022

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About Last Night:

As the injuries continue to add up, and the roster begins to include the names of players no one thought would be Yankees in 2022, or ever, somehow the Yankees continue to win baseball games.

Last night, the Yankees played against one of their biggest rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays, a team they'll be playing a total of ten times over the next few weeks. The Rays are the second place team in the American League East. The Yankees don't often play well against the Rays, especially when they play in Tampa as they did last night. And last night, the Yankees managed just six hit with only one of those hits, an Anthony Rizzo double, going for extra bases. This does not seem like a formula for success, but it worked, for one night at least, because of the nifty left arm of a guy they know as Nestor.

Nestor Cortes went 8 innings, allowing just one run on just four hits. Cortes walked one batter and struck out five. His ERA for the season dropped to 1.70.

Somehow, the Yankees scored 7 runs to win this game easily, 7-2, to raise their season record to 32-13 and their lead over the Rays to 5.5 games.

Quick Player Updates:

Who's On First?

The Yankees' left fielder, Joey Gallo, played right field

The Yankees' right fielder, Aaron Judge, played center field

A former third baseman, Miguel Andujar, played left field

The utility player, Marwin Gonzalez, played third base

A player who was an All-Star years ago, but who was released by the Rangers, and had not even played in the MLB in 2022, Matt Carpenter, was the designated hitter

D.J. LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks are day-to-day and out of the lineup. Giancarlo Stanton is on the 10-Day Disabled List. Josh Donaldson is still on the Covid-19 List.

Manny Baulelos and David McKay are both on the 25-man roster as bullpen arms.

Zach Britton, recovering from off-season elbow surgery, will begin throwing next week.

Former Yankee Shane Greene was signed to a minor league deal as a depth piece for the bullpen.

Big Story:

Nestor Cortes carried a shutout into the ninth inning, putting the team on his back as he has so often this year. Cortes allowed just four hits. He retired the Rays in order in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings. He was nifty and pitched like an ace once again. Cortes is now 4-1 on the season.

The Yankees didn't have a hit until the sixth inning themselves, but put together some nice rallies to eventually total seven runs. The Yankees scored three runs in the sixth inning (two coming on a throwing error). In the seventh inning, the Yankees scored a run on a wild pitch. Two other runs scored on an error in the ninth inning. Player(s) of the Game:

Nestor Cortes. No more needs to be said. Notable Performances:

• Aaron Judge had two runs batted in and scored a run

• Matt Carpenter was hit by a pitch and walked. He scored twice

• Miguel Andujar made a diving catch in left field

• Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Marwin Gonzalez also scored twice

My Take:

The injury bug has really caught up to the Yankees. That's the big concern. Can the Yankees, now getting into a tougher part of the schedule, defeat the league's better teams with a roster consisting of back-ups, recent signings, and others.

A legendary (fictional) boxer once said, "The world ain't sunshine and rainbows, it's a mean and nasty place and it'll bust you up permanently if you let it. Nothing hits harder than life. It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done." It's time to see how much the Yankees can take and if they can keep moving forward. Next Up:

Tonight, the battle with the Rays continues. Jameson Taillon gets the start. Game time is 7:10 p.m.