SAN DIEGO (AP) — Nestor Cortes had one of the lowest moments of his baseball life last October when he gave up the first to Freddie Freeman.
In a new uniform and a new pennant race Saturday night, Cortes faced his Dodgers demons head-on — and he came out smiling.
The veteran left-hander produced six brilliant innings of one-hit ball while his into sole possession of first place in the NL West with a 5-1 victory.
Cortes took a perfect game into the sixth inning, flummoxing the Dodgers’ high-priced lineup and combining with three relievers on a two-hitter. But he didn’t see this stellar performance as redemption for his role in Freeman’s now-iconic slam at Chavez Ravine and the Dodgers’ ensuing five-game victory over his New York Yankees.
“Obviously there’s a history,” Cortes said. “Everybody knows about it. It (stinks) as a player to go through those moments, but the good thing about baseball is that you always have another opportunity. Once the opportunity comes, you try and make the best out of it, and that’s what I did today.”
With a sellout crowd at Petco Park cheering him on in just his fourth start for the Padres, Cortes coolly retired the Dodgers’ first 16 hitters. He struck out three and didn’t walk a batter while slicing through Los Angeles’ collection of MVPs and standout role players with a crafty mix of pitches — and nothing faster than 92.1 mph.
“That was tremendous,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “We’re getting to know him, and it just feels like once he gets in a rhythm, he’s really good. He got in a rhythm right from the very first batter, and he just carried it through. It was a fantastic effort through six.”
The Dodgers couldn’t even get on base until Miguel Rojas got a one-out single in the sixth. Cortes calmly regrouped, retiring Shohei Ohtani for the third time on a flyball to end the inning and his night.
The performance was even more impressive because Cortes is still getting to know his teammates and coaches with the Padres, who acquired him from Milwaukee at the July 31 trade deadline that have significantly improved an already strong roster.
The Yankees traded Cortes to the Brewers last winter in a package for closer Devin Williams, but Cortes made only two starts for Milwaukee before missing four months with an elbow injury.
Cortes might not have had a role with MLB-best Milwaukee, but he has fit perfectly in a hole in the Padres’ rotation. He gave up four runs in the first inning last Monday against San Francisco, but Cortes has allowed only three earned runs in his other 20 innings for San Diego.
Cortes knows he has landed with a team that could give him a chance to write a new October history, and he’s eager to see how far the Padres can go.
“These guys are resilient,” Cortes said. “They’re not at the top of the standings for no reason. Even long before I got here, watching them from the East Coast, it’s a team that battles, a team that goes out there and plays hard. Now being part of them, you can tell how everybody is here together. It’s a camaraderie, and everybody is just trying to win.”
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