Nestor Cortes is a filler the Padres felt they needed.
He was more than that on Saturday night.
In his fourth start since being acquired at the trade deadline, Cortes took a perfect game into the sixth inning and helped lift his new team back into sole possession of first place in the National League West.
The left-hander threw six scoreless innings at the start of a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers that moved the Padres a game ahead in the division race.
“It was good,” Cortes said. “When you throw six innings, one hit, it always feels good. No matter who it is.”
Both teams have 32 games remaining in the regular season. Sunday marks the last time the teams will face each other before a potential postseason meeting.
To get the series-clinching victory, the Padres waited out and then jumped on Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow, driving him from the game after a three-run fourth inning.
They loaded the bases at the start of the fourth on two walks and a single before Ramón Laureano drove in two runs with a one-out single and Jake Cronenworth drove in a third run with a sacrifice fly.
The Padres added two runs in the eighth inning against reliever Justin Wrobleski when Xander Bogaerts followed a walk by Fernando Tatis Jr. and an intentional walk to Manny Machado with a double.
Cortes, who had allowed seven runs over 15 innings in his first three Padres starts, had no such trouble in an economical outing that ended after 81 pitches in six innings.
Two batters after allowing his first hit of the night, Cortes waved off Padres manager Mike Shildt, who was coming out of the dugout, and proceeded to retire Shohei Ohtani for a third time to complete the sixth inning.
“There’s a lot of different recipes, and tonight was another one,” Shildt said of how the Padres built their fifth straight victory by getting five runs on three hits and six walks. “But that’s the last two nights. When you get six out of your starter and then you’re able to take a lead, go to your (bullpen) and then add on, that recipe usually tastes the best.”
It was the second time in two days that the Padres’ starting pitcher allowed just one hit to one of the major leagues’ top offenses. Cortes and Yu Darvish became the first opposing starting pitchers to hold the Dodgers to one or zero hits over at least six innings in successive games since at least 1958.
While the one hit Darvish allowed was a home run, and he also hit a batter and walked one, a one-out single by Miguel Rojas in the sixth inning gave the Dodgers their only baserunner against Cortes.
Befitting the nature of the game — with every victory precious as the Padres seek their first division title since 2006 and the first-round playoff bye that could accompany it — Shildt went to his bullpen to start the seventh inning.
Jason Adam worked a 1-2-3 inning for the second straight day.
Jeremiah Estrada came on in the eighth to face a team he had struggled against this year, allowing eight runs in five innings.
The first batter he faced was Teoscar Hernández, who had hit two home runs against Estrada this season, including one that stood as the deciding run eight days earlier in Los Angeles. Estrada struck him out on three pitches before yielding a home run to pinch-hitter Alex Freeland that made it 3-1.
After getting a flyout, Estrada was replaced by lefty Adrian Morejón, who struck out pinch-hitter Michael Conforto.
After the Padres added on, Morejón set the Dodgers down in order in the ninth.
The bullpen locking down a game was further confirmation of how the Padres have constructed their pitching staff for the stretch run and — they hope — the postseason.
Cortes was a bonus. He was acquired as an insurance policy.
The 30-year-old was acquired from the Brewers along with an 18-year-old minor-league infielder and more than $2 million to pay down his salary in exchange for Triple-A outfielder Brandon Lockridge.
Cortes is supposed to be a guy to fill out the rotation for the remainder of the regular season and maybe be in the bullpen during the postseason. If he is starting in October, it means things went wrong or he suddenly became the 2022 All-Star version of himself in September.
That at least seems possible now.
From the start Saturday, he mixed every one of his four pitches to all spots around the strike zone and had the Dodgers mostly befuddled. When they did hit it hard, it was right at a defender.
“Just going out there and being able to produce for those guys and just put up zeros every single inning, just give a team chance to win, I think that’s what the starting pitcher role is,” Cortes said. “… And that’s what I did tonight.”
Originally Published:
Source link
