The New York Yankees welcomed lefty starter Nestor Cortes back to the Bronx on Saturday following an offseason trade that sent him to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for closer Devin Williams. Said welcoming, however, was in no way hospitable. Cortes was making the start for Milwaukee, and the Yankees ambushed their old teammate for four home runs in the first inning.
The first three of the frame came in back-to-back-to-back fashion — the first time in franchise history that the Yankees have hit three straight homers to start a game. Compounding miseries for Cortes and the Brewers is that those three straight homers by Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge all came on the first pitch of the at-bat. Goldschmidt and Bellinger, new to the Yankees this season, punished fastballs from Cortes, while Judge sent a cutter 468 feet to left. Here’s a look at those three opening pitches from Cortes:
That is indeed the first time in MLB history that a team has homered on the first three pitches of a game. Aside: Goldschmidt was batting leadoff for the first time in his 15-year MLB career.
Finally, Yanks catcher Tyler Wells, who caught 22 of Cortes’ 30 starts last season, made it four homers for the hosts in the bottom of the first:
Cortes also issued two walks in the inning but managed to avoid further indignities by getting a ground-out and a pair of called strikeouts among and after all the longballs.
Cortes, 30, spent four-plus seasons with the Yankees. In 2022, he put up a 4.4 WAR season, earned his first and to date only All-Star selection, and finished eighth in the AL Cy Young vote. Last season, he pitched to a 3.77 ERA in 174 1/3 innings for the pennant-winning Yankees.
That’s a lot of early damage ahead of Max Fried’s Yankee debut, but true to form, the Brewers chipped away at the big Yankee lead in the top of the second.
