When Nestor Cortes spoke to reporters in Yankee Stadium’s visiting clubhouse on Opening Day, he said that he was “excited” to face his former team in the second game of the season.
“I want to see where I line up with those guys and hopefully go out there and throw five shutout [innings],” said Cortes, who was traded from the Yankees to the Brewers over the offseason.
Cortes didn’t come close to his goal on Saturday. In fact, he couldn’t even throw one shutout pitch, as the lefty’s first offering of the day ended up in the visiting bullpen thanks to first-time leadoff man Paul Goldschmidt.
Miraculously, Cortes’ second and third pitches suffered the same fate, as Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge also left the yard. The barrage marked the first time in franchise history that the Yankees clubbed back-to-back-to-back homers to lead off a game. It also forced a mound visit for Cortes after just three pitches.
THREE PITCHES, THREE HOMERS.
Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back-to-back home runs! pic.twitter.com/BSrNo4MmZt
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 29, 2025
The Yankees weren’t done there, though, as Austin Wells added a solo home run before the inning came to an end. The Brewers’ trainer then made his own mound visit after that, only for Cortes to stay in as nearly every person in Milwaukee’s pen began to stretch.
The pitcher, now sporting platinum hair and a beard, managed to stop the bleeding after that, at least for the inning. However, Anthony Volpe joined the bludgeoning in the second inning, adding a three-run homer off Cortes.
