Judge/Soto 8, Cleveland 1 (Nothing Against Nestor)

 

Juan Soto touching home plate on his first inning home run, with Aaron Judge ready to congratulate him. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees cruised to an 8-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night, led by, in hockey fashion, the three stars of the game: Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Nestor Cortes.

Soto gave the Yankees a jumpstart against Cleveland starting pitcher Joey Cantillo with a towering blast to left-center field for a two-run shot in the first inning.

Then, in the third, Judge blasted one to right-center field for a two-run shot of his own to make it 4-0 Yankees.

Aaron Judge approaching third base on his third inning homer, with Juan Soto ahead of him on the basepaths. Photo by Jason Schott.

In the fourth, after Alex Verdugo and Oswald Peraza drew walks and Gleyber Torres got a two-out single to keep the inning alive, Soto laced one down the left-field line to clear the bases to make it 7-0. The only downside on the play was Soto was caught in a rundown between second and third trying to stretch out a double.

To top the night off, in the bottom of the seventh, Judge blasted one to right field for a solo shot - his second homer of the night, and the Yankees were up 8-0. By this point, Nestor Cortes had thrown seven shutout innings. (plenty more on him later in this report)

At the end of the night, Judge now has 47 home runs and 117 RBI and Soto now has 36 homers and 93 RBI.

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said, in his postgame press conference, of Judge and Soto pushing each other, "I think there's an element of that, no doubt about it. Two guys that great back-to-back, you know, I think they, obviously they root for one another. I think they really appreciate each other, you know, one right-handed, one left-handed, they are different in how they do it, and I think have an appreciation for one another, and I think they like doing what they did tonight together."

Soto has eight home runs in his last nine games, since August 11, and he is the first player in Yankees history to have eight straight hits be home runs. In a bit of irony, he was the first Major Leaguer to accomplish the feat since Joey Votto did it in July 2021. Votto, who played his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds and was with the Toronto Blue Jays organization this season, retired on Wednesday.

This was Judge's fourth multi-home run game of the season, and he now has 38 in his career - the fourth-most in Yankee history behind Babe Ruth (68), Mickey Mantle (46), and Lou Gehrig (43). The 38 multi-HR games for Judge since 2017 are the most in Major League Baseball, just ahead of Manny Machado's 32. The 38 also is the most by any Major League player in his first 960 games, ahead of Ralph Kiner's 34.

Boone said of what impresses him most about what Judge is doing, "I think that he just kind of keeps getting a little but better all the time, and I think that's what greatness is. You're never kind of satisfied with who you are, you know there's adjustments to be made, improving on the margins to be made, and I think, obviously, since he's been in the league, he's pretty much been great from the great, but I think just the way he controls the strike zone now is to another level, and then, you know, his power is different than just about anyone."

On the relentless attack throughout the game that Soto and Judge can provide throughout the length of a game, such as on this night, and what that can do to the opposition, Boone said, "Yeah, because I thought Cantillo threw the ball well, my first time seeing him in person, I thought his stuff looked good. His heater, kind of like Nestor's tonight, was, you can see it play up, had life to it, he's able to pitch up with it, and that changeup and curveball are a real change of pace, and so I thought, stuff-wise, he was good, and you know, he was doing alright, but two big swings and it's 4-0, and now all of a sudden, you're grinding through it, and here they come a third time around, so yeah, it's tough for a pitcher."

Nestor Cortes turned in perhaps his best outing of the season, as he threw seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and no walks, with four strikeouts. 

Nestor Cortes pitching to Jose Ramirez in the seventh inning. Photo by Jason Schott.

This was the second straight game Cortes threw seven shutout innings and did not allow a walk, as he also did it last Tuesday, August 13, Cortes in the Yankees' 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Thay night was also similar to that one, as Soto nearly provided all the Yankees offense with three home runs. 

Cortes' is now the first player in Yankees history to accomplish that feat, and first since another superb left-hander, Ron Guidry, who did it on August 28 and September 2, 1977. 

The other three to do it in Yankee history are Catfish Hunter (September 3 and 7, 1975), Steve Kline (August 6 [game 1 of a doubleheader] and 10, 1972), and Al Orth (July 3 and 7 in game 1 of a DH, 1905).

Cortes is now 7-10 and he has lowered his ERA (earned run average) to 4.00 - down from 4.42 on August 8. 

This was Cortes' sixth outing this season in which he went seven innings with no walks, the most in the Major Leagues, passing Texas' Nathan Eovaldi, who has five.

"I thought he was great again," Boone said of Cortes' second straight superb outing. "That's similar to what we saw in Chicago last time out - maybe this was better. I just thought he was in complete command right away. You saw the crispness of the heater, it had a really good gear to it, getting into spots, cutter was excellent, and then started mixing in the sweeper, and the changeup even. Changeup continues to be a good pitch for him, and he made some good pitches when he needed, was efficient. Just an excellent start, definitely one we could use after last night." (Cleveland won 9-5 in 12 innings on Tuesday night)

This win put the Yankees (74-53) back into first place in the American League East over the Baltimore Orioles (74-54), who lost a heartbreaker to the Mets in the afternoon.