NEW YORK — Nestor Cortes, once known as the quirky lefty with the funky deliveries, is now simply known as the Yankees’ best starter. The left-hander delivered again, flirting with a no-hitter into the eighth inning as the Yankees edged out the Rangers 1-0 at the Stadium in a matinee make-up of Saturday’s rained out game.
Cortes struck out 11, one shy of his career-high, and worked around four walks, but pitched 7.1 scoreless innings. The Yankees were also scoreless until Aaron Judge scored from first on Anthony Rizzo’s fly ball single to left-center field in the bottom of the eighth.
That was too late to give Cortes a win, but it did give the Yankees (20-8) the series win over the Rangers (11-16). They have won 13 of their last 15 games and seven of their nine completed series this season.
