Nestor Cortes failed to replicate his season-long heroics at home.
The Yankees left-hander has pitched significantly better in the Bronx than he has on the road this year, but he was hit hard in Saturday’s 9-1 loss to the Rays at Yankee Stadium.
Cortes surrendered three home runs, including a three-run blast to light-hitting Rays catcher Alex Jackson with two outs in the fourth inning extended Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-0.
Jackson, the Ray’s No. 9 hitter, entered the at-bat with a .082 average this season and only four home runs through his first 103 MLB games but got just enough of Cortes’ 88-mph slider to send it into the front row of the right field stands, just past the outreached glove of Aaron Judge.
One batter earlier, Cortes walked Taylor Walls, who is hitting .154.
Cortes later served up fifth-inning solo shots to Isaac Paredes and Randy Arozarena before exiting after 4.1 innings. The six earned runs that Cortes allowed marked the most he’s given up in a start this season.
The 29-year-old Cortes entered Saturday’s start with a 1.81 ERA through 10 appearances at Yankee Stadium this season, compared to a 6.04 ERA in as many outings on the road.
With the loss, Cortes fell to 4-9 with a 3.99 ERA.
Arozarena added a two-run home run against Yankees reliever Josh Maciejewski in the seventh.
The Yankees’ offense, meanwhile, failed to get much going against Rays starter Taj Bradley, who allowed only one hit in seven shutout innings with five strikeouts.
The Yankees (59-41) finished with five hits, narrowly avoiding a shutout when Judge tripled in the ninth and scored on Jahmai Jones’ RBI groundout.
The loss followed the Yankees’ series-opening 6-1 win over Tampa (49-49) on Friday night in their first game after the All-Star break.
The four-game set continues Sunday afternoon, with Marcus Stroman (7-4, 3.51 ERA) set to pitch against Tampa Bay’s Shane Baz (0-1, 5.23 ERA).
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