The New York Yankees on Saturday became the first MLB team to homer on each of the first three pitches of a game. They did so at the expense of former Yankee Nestor Cortes, who made the start for the visiting Milwaukee Brewers (MIL-NYY GameTracker). In all, Yankee hitters ambushed Cortes for four first-inning homers as he returned to the Bronx following an offseason three-player trade that sent him to the Brewers in exchange for closer Devin Williams.
The first three of the frame, as noted, came in back-to-back-to-back fashion — the first time in franchise history that the Yankees have hit three straight homers to start a game — by Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge. Goldschmidt and Bellinger, new to the Yankees this season, punished fastballs from Cortes, while Judge sent a cutter 468 feet to left. Here’s a look at those three opening pitches from Cortes:
Goldschmidt, who began the ritual abuse of Cortes, was batting leadoff for the first time in his 15-year MLB career.
Later in the frame, Yanks catcher Tyler Wells, who caught 22 of Cortes’ 30 starts last season, made it four homers for the hosts in the bottom of the first:
Cortes also issued two walks in the inning but managed to avoid further indignities by getting a ground-out and a pair of called strikeouts among and after all the longballs. The Brewers clawed back three runs in the top of the second off Max Fried, who was making his Yankee debut, but then Cortes gave it back in the bottom half when he allowed his fifth home run of the day — this one a three-run shot off the bat of Anthony Volpe. After issuing a walk to Jasson Domínguez to lead off the third, Cortes was finally lifted for a reliever. Domínguez soon after came around to score on a Bellinger single, which gave Cortes this final line for the day:
That gives Cortes an ERA of 36.00 for the season. Cortes, 30, spent four-plus seasons with the Yankees. In 2022, he put up a 4.4 WAR season, earned his first and to date only All-Star selection, and finished eighth in the AL Cy Young vote. Last season, he pitched to a 3.77 ERA in 174 1/3 innings for the pennant-winning Yankees.
At least, though, Cortes wasn’t around to give up a third-inning grand slam to Judge. That was the work of Connor Thomas, who replaced Cortes on the mound:
Jazz Chisholm Jr. immediately hit a solo shot, giving the Yankees seven homers through the first three innings. That, not surprisingly, is a first:
With one out in the fourth inning, the Nestor Cortes Show became the Aaron Judge Show. That’s because Judge connected for the Yankees’ eighth home run of the game and his third home run of the game. The moving pictures:
That’s the third three-homer game of Judge’s career, and his latest blast means the Yankees have tied the franchise record for home runs in a game with eight and have done so by the fourth inning.
