The Yankees were in good form heading into their series against the Angels, but it wasn’t just the rain that dampened their momentum.
Nothing stops momentum like poor pitching.
The Yankees suffered further hardship on Thursday as Nestor Cortez extended his recent rough start with a 9-4 loss to the Angels on a rainy, miserable night in the Bronx.
The Yankees faced off against the Los Angeles Angels. Robert Sabo, NY Post
After Will Warren lost 8-2 in the night game of a doubleheader Wednesday, Cortez couldn’t pitch a six-run fifth inning on Thursday and the Yankees (68-48) lost the series after winning three straight games.
“They fought me all night,” Cortez said. “The conditions were tough. … But that’s no excuse. We both overcame it. Both teams had adversity and they were the better team today.”
To make matters worse, Anthony Volpe left the game in the eighth inning complaining of “pain in his left leg” after being hit by a foul ball in the second inning.
X-rays were negative, and Boone was hopeful the shortstop would be OK.
The Angels (51-64) outhit Cortez in 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits and one walk.
The left-hander gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings against Philadelphia last Wednesday and looked better than he had last time out, but then took a step back against the Angels.
Cortes has a 9.26 ERA over his past five starts, giving up 24 runs in 23 1/3 innings, with four of those starts failing to complete five innings.
“It feels like the ball is coming out physically. [good]”And he’s got it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s just about the next level of execution, getting guys out in two-strike situations, like he did tonight.”
Cortes joins a starting rotation that has largely struggled over the past two months, but Boone expressed confidence Thursday that the Yankees “have everything they need.”
The foggy weather, with occasional heavy rain, didn’t bode well for Cortez, but that didn’t seem to be a problem for Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson, who held the Yankees to just one run (a home run by Jazz Chisholm Jr.) and three hits over six innings.
“Tough situation [for] “It was a great night for both teams,” Boone said.
The only saving grace for the Yankees that night was that the Orioles also lost to the Blue Jays, meaning the two teams tied for first place in the American League East.
Cortes came to the mound in the fifth inning to try to save the team from a 2-1 deficit.
After getting the first two outs, he engaged in a 10-pitch battle with No. 9 hitter Michael Stefanik, resulting in a single.
But Zach Neto, who had a big game in the doubleheader, hit a double as the skies opened up and the rain began to get heavier.
Long Island’s Logan O’Hoppe then walked to load the bases, but Kevin Pillar hit an 0-2 sinker into shallow right field for a two-run single to give the Angels a 4-1 lead and end Cortez’s night.
“To their credit, they fouled off a lot of the good pitches I threw tonight,” Cortez said. “I felt like my control was pretty good for me today. There were maybe one or two pitches I wanted to get back, but other than that I thought I made a lot of good pitches.”
Eniel de los Santos came to the mound and walked Anthony Rendon to load the bases again, but Jo Adell hit a liner to right field that went just under the glove of a diving Juan Soto for a sweep.
The ball went past Soto for a three-run shot and a 7-1 lead.
“Tonight was just not our night,” Boone said. “I thought Nestor pitched well, actually. We didn’t allow a lot of hard contact. We had a hard time getting guys tonight. They messed up their pitches. We got two strikes and we just couldn’t get them to.”
