Yankees waste strong Nestor Cortes start, Aaron Judge goes 0-for-4 in 2-0 loss to Rays
A day that began with cheers for retiring radio voice John Sterling ended with boos in the Bronx as Aaron Judge and the Yankees offense failed to break through against the rival Rays.
Judge struck out four times in as many at-bats in Saturday afternoon’s 2-0 loss in 10 innings, hearing boos in the bottom of the ninth after his final K of the day.
“I’ve heard worse, and I’d probably be doing the same thing in their situation,” Judge said with a smile.
The tough day at Yankee Stadium continued an uneven start to the season for Judge, who is now hitting .179. He has two hits in his last 22 at-bats, though one of them was a game-winning two-run single in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s series-salvaging victory in Toronto.
Judge, whose spring training was interrupted for 10 days due to an abdominal issue, said Saturday he’s “feeling great” physically and that his swing feels good, too.
“I’m still getting some pitches to hit, and I’ve got to capitalize on them,” Judge said, noting he’s faced tough pitching lately. “I think that’s what it comes down to, staying aggressive in my zone. When I do that, usually good things happen.”
The jeers came on a day the Yankees recognized Judge’s American League single-season record of 62 home runs in 2022 by handing out a commemorative bobblehead.
“It’s the Bronx,” manager Aaron Boone said of the boos. “He’s beloved and those will turn real quick.”
The Yankees lineup as a whole failed to get much going, managing only four hits against five Rays pitchers, including starter Zach Eflin, who struck out six over six innings.
The Yankees’ offensive issues squandered a stellar start from Nestor Cortes, who stifled the Rays for seven shutout innings. He retired Tampa Bay’s first eight batters, elicited 17 swings and misses and recorded a season-high nine strikeouts. He didn’t allow a walk and worked around six hits — all singles — on 102 pitches.
Cortes, who hurled eight shutout innings two starts ago against the Marlins, now boasts a 3.41 ERA this season.
“It’s great,” Cortes said. “Obviously, Miami was a really good one, and today was really good, but nothing really matters if we don’t get that W. I just did what I had to do, go out there and be the best I can be for every start, but you’re never happy when you don’t get the W as a team.”
Tampa Bay didn’t strike until the top of the 10th inning, when Jose Caballero’s RBI double against reliever Caleb Ferguson broke a scoreless tie. Ben Rortvedt, who spent the previous two years with the Yankees, added a run-scoring single off Ferguson, who fell to 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA in nine appearances as a Yankee.
It wasn’t the most fitting outcome on a day the Yankees held a pregame celebration for Sterling, who announced his retirement Monday after 36 years of calling the team’s games. Sterling’s run included five World Series championships and 31 consecutive winning seasons by the Yankees.
Saturday’s game remained scoreless even longer than Friday night’s series opener, which was 0-0 until the sixth inning. Tampa Bay struck first in that game, but the Yankees won, 5-3, thanks to a five-run, seventh-inning rally highlighted by a booming three-run home run from Juan Soto.
The Yankees will look to clinch a series victory Sunday afternoon, with Luis Gil (0-1, 3.86 ERA) set to pitch against the Rays’ Aaron Civale (2-1, 2.74 ERA).
