Nestor Cortes' pitching, Isiah Kiner-Falefa's diving catches lift Yankees over Angels
Nestor Cortes #65 of the Yankees pitches during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, Apr. 20, 2023 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It was the final game of what MLB Network dubbed “Ohtani vs. Judge Week,” but neither Shohei Ohtani nor Aaron Judge were the stars of Thursday’s 9-3 Yankees victory over the Angels.
Instead, the 39,315 at Yankee Stadium got to see six more effective innings from Nestor Cortes, a three-run double from Jose Trevino in the Yankees’ five-run first inning and a two-run single and a pair of diving catches in centerfield by Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
“It was great,” said Cortes, who is 3-0 with a 3.09 ERA. “We played good defense. We got timely hitting. We were able to put some runs up.”
Judge, who in the second game of the series hit a two-run homer and robbed Ohtani of a two-run homer in centerfield, went 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs on Thursday.
Ohtani, who clubbed a two-run homer in his first at-bat in the Angels’ victory in the series opener, went 0-for-3 with a walk.
The Yankees shot out to a 5-0 lead eight batters into the bottom of the first and held on to take the rubber match of the series.
Anthony Rizzo (3-for-3, two walks) had an RBI single to drive in Anthony Volpe, who had walked and moved to third on a Judge single. Oswald Peraza walked with the bases loaded to make it 2-0 before Trevino’s bases-clearing double off lefthander Patrick Sandoval (1-1, 3.38 ERA).
“Put us in a great position,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Volpe started it all off and then everyone just kind of grinded them down to throw a five-spot up there.”
Cortes was charged with three runs in six innings plus one batter. The lefthander didn’t allow a hit until Brandon Drury led off the fifth with an infield single.
Luis Rengifo followed with a double before Sayville’s Logan O’Hoppe singled to plate the Angels’ first run. Taylor Ward’s sacrifice fly — in which Kiner-Falefa made his second diving catch; more on that in a minute — made it 5-2.
Cortes left after walking Rengifo to open the seventh. That run came around to score when Ron Marinaccio gave up a double to O’Hoppe and ended a streak in which Cortes had allowed two runs or less in nine straight starts.
Marinaccio got the next two outs and Boone brought in lefthander Wandy Peralta to face Ohtani.
Peralta was charged a ball on a pitch-clock violation before his first pitch, the second of three such violations charged to the Yankees (and one that the Yankees felt should have been charged to Ohtani). Peralta then threw three straight balls to walk Ohtani.
Mike Trout followed with a ground single up the middle that second baseman Peraza smothered with a dive to save a run. The bases were loaded, but Peralta got Anthony Rendon to fly out to left.
“The feeling was great,” Peralta said through an interpreter. “You want to go in there and do your job. You feel a relief.”
Kiner-Falefa’s diving catches on a tough sun day were the Yankees’ other defensive highlights. Last year’s starting shortstop came in to dive and rob Hunter Renfroe for the final out of the fourth, although the catch was made harder than it needed to be because the inexperienced centerfielder (eight games, all this season) broke late on the ball.
Kiner-Falefa’s true web gem came on Ward’s sacrifice fly with two men on in the fifth.
“That play on Ward — that was legit,” Boone said.
Kiner-Falefa raced toward leftfield and made a backhanded diving catch before gracefully tumbling over on his No. 12. The consequences of Kiner-Falefa missing that ball could have been devastating.
“Definitely felt good to make some plays out there,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I thought the second one was more impactful because of the guys on base and the situation.”
DJ LeMahieu’s RBI single and Kiner-Falefa’s two-out, two-run single in the seventh increased the lead to 8-3. Peraza added an RBI single in the eighth.
O’Hoppe (3-for-4, two RBIs) left the game for a pinch runner after injuring his left shoulder on a swing that produced a single in the ninth inning. The extent of the injury was not immediately known.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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