Nasty Nestor was as nasty as ever

BRONX, NY—Following their first win of the regular season Sunday in St. Louis, the Marlins made their way up to the Bronx. After taking time on the field to admire the partial solar eclipse, the team looked to notch a second victory against the big bad Yankees. 

Nestor Cortes had other plans. 

Marlins hitters only registered two hits against Cortes, both coming off the bat of Bryan De La Cruz. Nobody else on the squad reached base. His final line was incredible: 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 6 K, 102/70 pitches/strikes. His game score of 84 was tied for the highest game score against the Marlins since Aaron Nola on 7/17/22 and Kevin Gausman on 4/24/21, and the second-highest since Stephen Strasburg's 92 on 8/31/19. Besides his first strikeout of the game, all of the others were swinging. 

"His fastball command was really good," manager Skip Schumaker said about Cortes postgame. "He was ahead of almost every hitter...Messed with our timing. He was just outstanding tonight."

Jesús Luzardo got off to a great start on the other side of the ball, working three scoreless innings with only one hit allowed. That all changed in the fourth inning as Anthony Volpe sent a hanging slider into the left-field bleachers for a three-run homer, and Juan Soto did the same with a hanging changeup into the right-field seats. Six runs for the Yankees in the blink of an eye.In the fourth inning, the Yankees sent nine runners to the plate, scoring six runs on five hits, and somehow, Luzardo threw only 19 pitches.

The Yankees tacked on another run in the fifth to force him out of the game. Burch Smith and Matt Andriese mopped things up from there.

Luzardo's final line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 2 HR, 94/55 pitches/strikes. 

Noah's Notes

• The Marlins drop to 1-10 to start the season—including 0-6 against left-handed starters—as they embark on what might be one of the most disappointing yet expected seasons in franchise history. 
• They did nothing to improve upon the exciting team from last year and are now decimated by injuries to their pitching staff. Two of those absent arms, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera, are nearly ready to return from the IL, but this team has dug itself into a deep hole without them.
• It's going to be a long season.
• Carlos Rodón vs. A.J. Puk on Tuesday.
• 'Til Tmrw!