Yankees ride on Cortes’ 12 strikeouts to rout Orioles 8-0, Judge stays at 61
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NEW YORK — Aaron Judge was the man of the moment on Saturday but Nestor Cortes stole the show. The pitcher’s dominant performance helped the Yankees crush the Orioles 8-0.
On the 61st anniversary of Roger Maris’ 61st home run, Aaron Judge remained at 61 home runs, and he even stepped up to the plate at the exact moment Maris hit a home run.
Judge was only struck by eight of the 25 pitches that Baltimore threw at him. On Saturday, he didn’t get a hit, but he walked twice and was hit by a pitch, which led to the New York Yankees scoring three runs in the first inning and four runs in the seventh during their 8-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Aaron Judge was hit on the left arm by a cutter from Austin Voth (5-4) and walked in the second. But in the fourth inning, he swung to hit a curveball but missed it out. At that time, it was 2.43 pm. On this day and exactly at this time Roger Maris hit his 61st AL record homer at old Yankee Stadium in 1961.
He started the seventh inning by walking against Spenser Watkins and went on to strike out on a changeup in the eighth inning.
Orioles pitchers were subjected to boos and obscene chants from fans in the crowd of 45,428 who were watching the game. Yankees manager Boone also criticized the pitcher’s treatment of the best hitter of the game.
Aaron Judge is in the running to become the first Triple Crown winner in ten years. He has the most RBI with 130, and his batting average of .313 is second only to that of Minnesota’s Luis Arraez. He also has the most walks with 110.
The reigning champions of the AL East, the New York Yankees (97-60), have five games remaining: The final game at home will be played on Sunday, and then the team will travel to Texas for a four-game series.
Nestor Cortes tied his career high with 12 strikeouts. He went 7 1/3 innings without giving up a hit and walked two batters. Jorge Mateo hit a single just past shortstop Oswald Peraza’s outstretched glove with two outs in the fifth.
In 93 pitches, Cortes got 19 swings and misses. He got his ERA down to 2.48 and would be seventh in the AL if he had played 3 2/3 innings more. When Cortes was walking toward the dugout, he got a standing ovation from the crowd. The pitcher readily accepted it by tipping his cap.
Gleyber Torres moved to right field as part of a four-man outfield. A “hesitation delivery” from Cortes struck out Ryan Mountcastle to cap the sixth inning.
Cortes said, “I do it right there.” “Until it happens, I don’t really know what I’m doing.”
In his first game with the Yankees, reliever Jacob Barnes, who replaced the injured Zack Britton, finished with two hits, giving New York its 16th shutout, the most since 1998.
Kyle Higashioka made his ninth home run. He accounted for three of 14 hits by the Yankees. Torres and Josh Donaldson each drove in two runs.
To the surprise of the Orioles, Austin Voth threw five innings with an unexpected performance of four runs and seven hits. After a season in which they lost 110 games, they were still mathematically in the running for the playoffs until Seattle’s late-night win Friday eliminated them.
The manager of Baltimore, Brandon Hyde, knew that fans who wanted to see No. 62 were upset with his team.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a massive 447-foot home run that crossed the wall on the left.
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Chi Chi Gonzalez will be called up from Triple-A to start for the Yankees on Sunday against Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish.
Is Cortes assured of a playoff roster place with his career-high strikeout?
