Several fly balls found grass on a windy and sunny day, including a would-be flyout from Byron Buxton that became a three-run triple because center fielder Greg Allen couldn’t locate the ball.
Cortes’ command was not pinpoint — manager Aaron Boone said he couldn’t hit the top of the strike zone with his four-seamer — but he said his stuff and shoulder felt fine.
He pitched parts of four innings (he was pulled 24 pitches into his second inning but reappeared for the third) and reached 62 pitches.
“The goal coming here was to get my pitch count up again, get four ups, got into the low 60s. And the best part about it was, I came out healthy,” Cortes said. “Happy with where I’m at right now, as far as body-wise. Probably a few pitches there that I could have commanded better, but other than that [I was happy].”
