Judge hits 3 of Yankees' 9 HRs in rout of ex-teammate Cortes, Brewers
The New York Yankees gave Nestor Cortes the rudest of welcomes in his return to the Bronx in Saturday's 20-9 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, tagging him for five of the franchise-record nine home runs they hit.
(Video source: ESPN MLB)
Cortes, making his Milwaukee Brewers debut against his former team after being traded for star closer Devin Williams in the winter, allowed homers on each of his first three pitches with his new club. Paul Goldschmidt - hitting leadoff for the first time in his career - got things started by sending the first pitch into the bullpen for his first round-tripper as a Yankee.
Another new Yankee, Cody Bellinger, followed by launching his first homer in pinstripes on Cortes' second offering.
Aaron Judge then stepped up and sent Cortes' third pitch to Yonkers.
"It was just like, 'Bang, bang, bang,' and we were up three," Bellinger said, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "This was exciting. We love the lineup, we love the depth, we love the guys we’ve got in this locker room."
Cortes settled down with two quick outs but then allowed a fourth solo homer to Austin Wells to make it 4-0.
The outburst marked the first time in Yankees history that they started a game by hitting three consecutive home runs, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com. It was also the first time the Yankees hit four homers in the first inning of a game, according to the YES Network broadcast.
Additionally, it marked the first instance of any team hitting three homers on the first three pitches of a game since pitch counts started being tracked in 1988, per Langs.
Cortes issued another two walks and received a visit from Brewers trainers before finally striking out Trent Grisham to retire the side.
But the Yankees weren't done feasting on their old friend just yet. In the bottom of the second, Cortes gave up his fifth home run of the day to Anthony Volpe, who clubbed a three-run shot. He became the seventh pitcher in Brewers history to surrender at least five homers in one game, per Stathead.
Cortes briefly returned for the third inning, but he was finally lifted after walking Jasson Domínguez to start the frame. He finished his day by allowing eight runs and six hits while walking five and striking out two on 64 pitches (33 strikes) in two-plus innings of work.
The left-hander also made some additional dubious history by becoming the first pitcher in history to allow five-plus homers and issue at least five walks in fewer than three innings of work, per BrooksGate.
After Cortes departed, rookie reliever Connor Thomas allowed the inherited runner to score before surrendering a grand slam to Judge and solo shot to Jazz Chisholm Jr., extending New York's lead to 13-3. The Yankees' seven homers are the most through three innings in a game in MLB history, per Langs.
The Yankees' power surge continued when Judge added his third homer in the fourth. Oswald Peraza's seventh-inning round-tripper was the Yankees' ninth homer of the day, setting a franchise record and making them just the third team to hit at least nine in a contest. The single-game record of 10 was set Sept. 14, 1987, by the Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy described the game as "an old-fashioned ass-whooping" once it was finally over, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.