Cortes confesses: 'I should have been better'

NEW YORK -- Nestor Cortes didn’t have much time to react when a 90 mph ground ball off the bat of Myles Straw barreled back toward the mound, where the Yankees left-hander had just completed his throwing motion.

Cortes instinctively flung his glove above his head and caught the ball at its high point, before landing with a thud in front of the bump and his back facing first base. From the seat of his pants, Cortes turned and lobbed a pinpoint bounce pass to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who corralled it right before Straw could reach the bag.

The bases-loaded threat had been neutralized. The inning-ending play had been made. And the 5-foot-10, 210-pound Cortes trotted toward the dugout with the cheers of 47,535 fans at Yankee Stadium ringing in his ears.

It’s the type of ovation Cortes has grown accustomed to during his season-long emergence from middling reliever to bona fide All-Star, but the reception was especially pronounced for the first postseason appearance of his big league career.

“Nestor makes it happen, doesn’t he?” third baseman Josh Donaldson said. “I mean, he’s a good athlete and gives us everything he’s got every day. That was a great play by him in a key moment.”

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Unfortunately for Cortes, that was the highlight of his start in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Friday afternoon. The Guardians saddled the crafty southpaw with a no-decision after he allowed two runs in five innings, including a game-tying homer to Amed Rosario in his final frame, and then went on to claim a 4-2 win in 10 innings to level the series at one game apiece.

The fourth-inning play, which had maintained a one-run Yankees advantage, was reminiscent of another standout defensive highlight from Cortes at the start of the season, coincidentally also against the Guardians. On April 23 in the Bronx, Cortes charged toward first base at the same pace as speedster Steven Kwan, reeled in a pass from Rizzo and dove headfirst into the bag, nabbing it with his glove mere seconds ahead of the runner.

After that game, Cortes provided one of the more memorable soundbites of the Yanks’ season, declaring: “They don’t know that I am an athlete. Under this body, there’s a guy that's athletic.”

This time around, the 27-year-old showed just as much confidence in his ability.

“I think I’m supposed to make that play 100 percent of the time,” Cortes said. “[There was] just a little bit more dramatic effect to it. I thought a bounce pass was the best idea because if I would have tried to get up and throw, I probably would have been late to first base. … It worked out.”

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Cortes kept the Yankees in the game with his pitching as well, as the two clubs remained tied until the Guardians broke through with a two-run rally in the 10th. The only other damage against him came earlier in that fourth inning, when Andrés Giménez knocked a two-out single to right field.

But after Cortes exited with five frames under his belt, the Yanks needed six more hurlers to record the game’s final 30 outs: Lou Trivino, Jonathan Loáisiga, Wandy Peralta, Clay Holmes, Jameson Taillon (who took the loss in the first relief appearance of his MLB career) and Clarke Schmidt. Given that this was the first of a possible four straight games to decide this ALDS, it wasn’t the length they needed from Cortes.

“I think I had more in me,” he said. “I mean, I kept us in the game, but I think I should have been better. The Giménez pitch, I wish I could get it back, and we wouldn’t be talking about this right now.”

Cortes posted a similar line as Cleveland starter Shane Bieber, including three walks apiece. But with a tighter margin for error in the postseason, he came out on the short end of the stick.

Cortes may have been able to counter the Guardians’ contact-heavy style with one big moment, but it burned the Yankees where it matters most.

“Their MO is to get the ball on the ground and run. They’re a fast team. They’re a team that has a lot of contact in their game. And you saw it,” Cortes said. “When they put the ball in play, they create havoc. … Sometimes you got to be more lucky than good.”