BRONX, NY — I have covered Major League Baseball and counting this season–28 consecutive years–not including other prior years. Regardless, what I witnessed Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium was unprecedented from the press box.
The Yankees hit a franchise record nine home runs. Three consecutive back-to-back-to- back first pitches off Nestor Cortes, their former teammate with the Milwaukee Brewers. An auspicious first inning that resulted in a Yankees 20-9, 15-hit onslaught of a win. Need I mention the Yankees committed five errors but that was lost with the home run record.
And Max Fried, richest left-hander in baseball had a season debut that was respectable, of course cushioned with that wide lead before taking the mound. Fried did not record a decision (4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R/2 ER/4 K’s).
Aaron Judge recorded his third career three-HR game with a grand slam in the third inning, career-high right RBI game. The Yankees became the third team in MLB history to hit at least nine HR’s in a game and four home runs in the first inning was also a franchise record.
In sequence, here is how it transpired and don’t blink as I did and who said the Yankees miss Juan Soto? And Paul Goldschmidt got it going, his first career start at leadoff.
-Paul Goldschmidt: First pitch fastball to right center – first inning
-Cody Bellinger: First pitch fastball to right center – first inning
-Aaron Judge: First pitch cutter to left field – first inning
-Austin Wells: Third pitch fastball to left center – first inning
-Anthony Volpe: A second inning three-run jack on a cutter to left
-Judge: A third inning grand slam to left center
-Jazz Chisholm Jr.: A third inning solo homer to right center
-Judge: A fourth inning solo bomb to center
-Oswald Peraza: A two-run shot in the seventh inning to left that scored Volpe and the 20th run
Unprecedented in the Bronx. Indeed the ball was flying out of the ballpark and the weather was as warm as those Bronx Bombers. Probably not going to see this happen anytime soon, then again this is baseball and the Yankees have a lineup that has a proficiency of hitting the home run ball, 11th in their first three games and off to a 2-0 start.
And Judge almost became the 19th player to hit four home runs in a game, his sixth inning fly ball went for a double that fell on the right field warning track.
“Our story is not done,” Judge said. “I’ll keep adding to those lists,” he said, commenting about becoming the fourth Yankee to have three games of three or more home runs with an elite group that includes Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Alex Rodríguez.
Aaron Judge rounded the bases three times on Saturday afternoon on three home runs – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Pablo Reyes, Jasson Domínguez and Trent Grisham were three in the Yankees starting lineup that failed to hit a home run in the first seven innings.
The home run barrage impressed Brewers manager Pat Murphy. “You think you’ve seen it all and you haven’t. Because we saw it today. Three pitches, three homers. It’s like really? Usually you wake up from that, you know what I mean?”
What wasn’t expected was how Cortes threw those first inning home runs. He appeared stunned on the mound after the first three. It was not a homecoming he expected. Traded to the Brewers during the offseason, Cortes left the stadium and was not available for comment. In his season debut, Cortes allowed a career-high eight earned runs in 2.0 innings and threw 64 pitches. The Brewers made a brief comeback of their own, scoring three runs in the second off Fried.
Austin Wells continued his hot start to the 2025 season on Saturday – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
“He threw the ball well, didn’t execute,” Murphy said. “Nestor is a pro. My heart goes out to him, because he’s a great , great young man great teammate. So your heart hurts for him, because he didn’t put his best foot forward.”
Murphy also said, “The ball wasn’t cutting and he didn’t throw the ball where he wanted to, on the side of the plate he wanted to. And when you throw those like that, and your cutter’s backing up, you’re not through the baseball. You’ve got a team like that, the Yankees are a powerhouse.”
Cortes, 2022 American League LatinoMVP Pitcher award recipient, became the first pitcher since the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Ralph Branca in 1949 to allow five-plus homers and five plus walks in a game. There was no indication that Cortes was troubled with an injury, and Murphy downplayed any idea that the Yankees knew his repertoire of pitches.
Nestor Cortes had a rough go to begin his 2025 season like many pitchers out of Spring Training – Image Credit: MLB
This was also a case of the Yankees being the Bronx Bombers in their yard and the wind blowing out. A pitcher who had a bad day and is expected to rebound in his next start.
“He’s a guy that’s going to go out there, throw strikes, attack you,” Judge said. “So we just tried to go out there and be aggressive in our zone. ‘Goldy’ (Goldschmidt) and ‘Belli’ (Bellinger) set the table there and got things going. The place was rocking once I walked up there.”
Unprecedented afternoon for the Yankees. But they know 159 more on the schedule and as they say this is baseball.
Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and contributor at LatinoSports.com – X: @Ring786, Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
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