Nestor Cortes promised to put on a show.
A walk to Mets slugger Pete Alonso may have taken away some of the full array of tricks he had up his sleeve, but the Yankees’ lefty still enjoyed himself while tossing a scoreless sixth inning in theCortes, the 5-foot-11, former 36th-round pick, also hit a batter but struck out a pair as part of six straight no-hit innings by the AL bullpen.
“I was a little nerve-wracking [to be communicating with the booth and pitching],” Cortes said. “I’m trying to listen to the guys. I’m trying to think what I’m gonna throw, but I’m still trying to execute so a little overwhelming, but it was a good experience. I loved it. I had a lot of fun, especially doing it with Trevy and us being connected.”Trevino, who added a single, relished the opportunity to catch Cortes in both’s first All-Star Game.
Managers and players on both teams lauded MLB’s “legacy selections,” which added Cardinals staple Albert Pujols and Tigers great Miguel Cabrera to the game as they wind down their careers.“I love the legacy pick,” Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said. “I think it’s good to celebrate the consistency of these guys’ careers. Even though maybe not the first half has been quite as magical as some other guys, they’ve been out there for 20 years. In my opinion, that’s an All-Star.
“You know how he is, just Big Papa in the corner and everybody’s coming up to him,” Cole said. “The young guys, myself, just … talking pitching, you never know how impactful making somebody feel welcome in that situation and what that does for their career. Or maybe an actual tip or two. Just feeding that knowledge back into the product is really good for the long term.”