Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Yankees traded Nestor Cortes for closer Devin Williams in the offseason, and the crafty lefty had a rude homecoming on Saturday.

Pitching for the Brewers against his former team, Cortes proceeded to give up three home runs on three pitches. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt, leading off for the first time in his career, started the barrage with a 413-foot blast into the Milwaukee bullpen.

Cody Bellinger, another first-year Yankee, followed with his own solo shot, clearing the Yankee bullpen into the right field bleachers.

Enter reigning MVP and captain Aaron Judge, and Cortes offered a cutter after two first-pitch fastballs. Judge answered by launching his latest monster shot, 468 feet into the third deck.

Cortes got a bit of a reprieve as Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out and Anthony Volpe grounded out. Austin Wells, who hit .197 against lefties last season, stepped in for his turn. He snuck one over the left field fence to make it 4-0.

The Yankees batted around before Cortes finally struck out Trent Grisham, but Milwaukee answered back. Costly errors have the Yankees currently leading 4-3 in the second inning.

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Josh Benjamin
Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.

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