When Nestor Cortes spoke to reporters in Yankee Stadium’s visiting clubhouse on Opening Day, he said that he was “excited” to face his former team in the second game of the season.
“I want to see where I line up with those guys and hopefully go out there and throw five shutout [innings],” said Cortes, who was traded to the Brewers over the offseason in the deal that brought Devin Williams to New York.
Cortes didn’t come close to his goal on Saturday. In fact, he couldn’t even throw one shutout pitch in the Yankees’ 20-9 laughingstock of a victory, as the lefty’s first offering of the day ended up in the visiting bullpen thanks to first-time leadoff man Paul Goldschmidt.
Miraculously, Cortes’ second and third pitches suffered the same fate, as Cody Bellinger and ex-teammate Aaron Judge also left the yard. The barrage marked the first time in franchise history that the Yankees clubbed back-to-back-to-back homers to start a game. It also forced a mound visit three pitches into Cortes’ return to the Bronx.
“It’s tough to start better than that,” Goldschmidt said. “I don’t think I’ve been part of anything like that.”
Bellinger, meanwhile, couldn’t believe how quickly the Yankees took a 3-0 lead.
“Super unique to be a part of, and it was just nice to get the party started,” he said. “It was just like bang, bang, bang.”
“That was punch you in the mouth right there,” Aaron Boone added. “It was definitely a raucous situation.”
Judge described the inning — and the atmosphere — as “electric.”
“The Bleacher Creatures were jumping up and down,” he said. “You kind of gotta step out and catch your breath there for a second before you step in the box because it gets the heart rate going a little bit. So that was definitely fun.”
THREE PITCHES, THREE HOMERS.
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— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 29, 2025
Cortes, who didn’t speak after the game, would surely disagree, as the Yankees were far from finished.
Austin Wells added a solo home run before the first inning came to an end. The Brewers’ trainer then made another mound visit, only for Cortes to stay in as nearly every person in Milwaukee’s bullpen began to stretch.
The pitcher, now sporting platinum hair and a beard, managed to stop the bleeding after that, at least for the inning. However, Anthony Volpe joined the bludgeoning in the second inning, adding a three-run homer off Cortes, whose fastball averaged 90.6 mph, a 1.4-mph decrease from last season.
“We knew he wasn’t throwing quite as hard necessarily in spring training,” Boone said of his former pupil, who expeditiously rehabbed a flexor strain so that he could pitch in the World Series last October. “A lot of times early in the season, guys aren’t as settled as they normally would be. So I think he lacked a little bit of crispness. Usually he gets a lot of play with that four-seam. That extra little cut on his cutter wasn’t quite as sharp, and then they took advantage with his stuff being down a little bit.”
Cortes, also hurt by the Yankees’ familiarity with him, was ultimately charged with eight earned runs over two innings.
His homecoming came to a merciful end after he began the third frame with his fifth walk of the day. As Cortes left the mound, Yankees fans responded with a comical standing ovation.
“He didn’t execute,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He didn’t throw the ball good. He’d be the first to tell you.”
The performance marked another nightmarish outing on Cortes’ recent résumé, as one of his final moments with the Yankees saw him surrender a walk-off grand slam to the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman in Game 1 of the World Series.
Still, Cortes’ name has been greeted with cheers over the last few days, as the former 36th-round draft pick and Rule 5 returnee established himself as a dependable starter during his third stint with the Yankees, which spanned the past four seasons and included an All-Star selection.
“Yeah,” Boone said after the onslaught when asked if he felt bad for Cortes. “I mean, look, we’re in competition out there and it’s the game once that happens, but I want him to have a great year, and there’s no reason he won’t go and have a great year. I know how competitive he is. You’re gonna take your lumps in this game if you play long enough, so it’s just one game. He’ll be alright.”
Milwaukee responded to Cortes’ horrific opening with a three-run second inning, which was assisted by some sloppy Yankees defense. Any hopes the Brewers had of a comeback were diminished by Volpe’s homer, though.
Judge completely erased such aspirations with a third-inning grand slam off Connor Thomas. The bomb earned the captain MVP chants and a curtain call from a belligerent crowd.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. then added another solo shot. The Bombers also scored earlier in the third on a deflected Bellinger single.
Bellinger added a sac fly in the fourth. Judge then blasted his third dinger of the day, a two-run jack, in the fourth inning.
Saturday marked the third three-homer game of Judge’s career. He nearly crushed a fourth home run when he smacked an RBI double off the right field wall in the sixth inning. Bellinger lined an RBI single before that.
Judge had another chance at history with ex-Yankee Jake Bauers, an outfielder, pitching in the eighth inning, but the slugger lined out to deep left. He and Bauers, another former teammate, then shared a laugh.
“I’m just trying to put it in play,” Judge said. “Get a base hit, keep it moving. I’m not really thinking about any history or anything like that.”
Boone was, however,
“I wanted to give him that opportunity at least, and he almost did it his last two at-bats,” the skipper said. “He almost got them both.”
The Yankees put an even 20 on the board in the seventh when pinch-hitter Oswald Peraza drilled a two-run homer. That gave the Yankees a franchise record nine home runs on the day, something only two other teams have accomplished.
“This was exciting,” Bellinger said. “We like where we’re at. We love our lineup. We love the depth. We love the guys that we got in this locker room. It’s gonna be fun.”
Oswald Peraza makes it a franchise record NINE home runs for the Yankees today!
WOW. pic.twitter.com/fEJc7kUggb
— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2025
The record for homers in one game belongs to the 1987 Blue Jays, who launched 10 against the Orioles on Sept. 14 that year. The Reds also hit nine home runs on Sept. 4, 1999. Boone hit Cincinnati’s first homer in that game, so Saturday’s affair wasn’t unprecedented to him.
However, he believed a different presence inspired the Yankees’ success, particularly in the first inning.
“I saw Reggie [Jackson] here today,” Boone said. “Three homers on three pitches in the World Series right? So maybe it was that.”
Despite the offensive outburst, Max Fried failed to get a win in his Yankees debut.
Defense had a lot to do with that, as the pinstripers totaled five errors behind their de facto ace, who made one blunder himself. Volpe and Chisholm also made one error apiece, while Pablo Reyes committed two in his own debut.
“We didn’t catch the ball great,” Boone said. “That’s an understatement.”
The poor play — an issue for a vastly different 2024 team — forced Fried to throw 94 pitches over 4.2 innings. He allowed six runs, but only two were earned. Fried also tallied seven hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
Carlos Carrasco permitted three more Milwaukee runs over the last two innings, but the blowout unofficially ended long before that.
When all was said and done, Murphy used a different descriptor.
“An old-fashioned ass-whooping,” he remarked.
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