CHICAGO — Nestor Cortes’ season received the recharge it needed in Chicago.
After carrying a 7.67 ERA across his previous six starts, the lefty posted the performance he and the Yankees were desperate for.
In seven scoreless innings, Cortes was masterful, striking out nine — tying a season high — while walking none and permitting only three hits on 104 pitches.
“I thought Wellsy [Austin Wells] called a great game,” Cortes said after the Yankees’ 4-1 win over the White Sox. “The game plan we talked about before the game was really good. I was able to locate both sides of the plate.”
In the broader context of Yankee pitching accomplishments, Cortes became the club’s first starter to complete six innings since Carlos Rodon on July 28, which was 14 games ago.
“Love the way he threw the ball,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Changeup was really good for him tonight. Life to the heater. Cutter was getting to where he wanted it. Efficient.”
More specifically, it was the first scoreless outing for Cortes since June 18 vs. the Orioles.
“As bad as it seemed for me four or five outings in a row — minus the Philly one — felt like it was one inning or one pitch or one at-bat that got me off,” Cortes said. “Wasn’t able to come through that fifth inning. I know I’ve thrown four innings a bunch of times.”
Cortes’ dazzling display marked the first time a Yankees starter had gone seven scoreless innings since the southpaw did it himself on May 17, also against the White Sox.
On Tuesday, the starter turned to more sweepers (21 percent of pitches thrown) than his season average of 15.6 percent, which proved highly effective.
With the pitch, Cortes induced seven swings and generated a 41 percent called strikes plus whiffs percentage, according to Baseball Savant.
Likewise, Cortes threw just 20 percent cutters, down 8.9 percent from his other starts in 2024.
“I thought it was more a feel thing,” Cortes said. “I told Wellsy today, ‘Let’s try and mix all of my pitches.’ The changeup and sweeper were in play today a lot. After a few times that I’ve used it, I said, ‘We’re going to keep on using it until they hit it.’ ”
The starter’s outing proved monumental for a beleaguered Yankee bullpen following a strenuous past few days.
Luis Gil went just four innings on Monday in Chicago.
Marcus Stroman got through only five frames vs. the Rangers on Sunday.
And Gerrit Cole got just one out in the sixth during the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
In just that three-game stretch, eight Yankees relievers threw 18 or more pitches in a game, while the collective bullpen permitted a whopping 20 earned runs in 11 ²/₃ innings — good for a 15.43 ERA.
“I realized that we’ve played a lot of games the last week or so,” Cortes said. “You want to go as deep as possible every time, regardless of how short the game before you went.”
Despite the length that Cortes provided, Aaron Boone still had to utilize Mark Leiter Jr., Tommy Kahnle and Jake Cousins, the last of whom closed out a 4-1 win with his first career save.
As the Yankees turn to rookie Will Warren for a spot start on Wednesday, Boone can feel considerably better about the trajectory of one of his rotation regulars.
“I felt like something clicked for me today,” Cortes said. “Hopefully I can continue to do what I did today for the next outing, and so on and so forth.”
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