Nestor Cortes pitches seven-inning scoreless gem in Yankees’ win

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.’ ”

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