NESTOR CORTES

Move over slider, curve, slurve and screwball, there’s a new (ish) breaking ball making the rounds in the majors: the sweeper.

Just hours after confetti fell on the NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs in Glendale, Arizona, the sports spotlight shifted to baseball as pitchers and catchers who will play in the World Baseball Classic began reporting to spring training complexes throughout the Phoenix area and in Florida.

Carlos Rodón appeared without beard at a Yankee Stadium news conference, a day after his $162 million, six-year contract was announced, complying with the team grooming rules.

Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman delivered big hits and the Houston Astros advanced to the World Series again, finishing a four-game sweep of New York in the AL Championship Series with a 6-5 victory aided by another defensive gaffe from the Yankees.

Yankees All-Star pitcher Nestor Cortes left Game 4 of the AL Championship Series with an injured left groin after allowing a three-run homer to Houston’s Jeremy Pena in the third inning.

Cristian Javier and Houston’s bullpen combined on a three-hitter, Chas McCormick followed a dropped flyball with an early two-run homer and the Astros beat Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees 5-0 to take a 3-0 AL Championship Series lead.

Nestor Cortes envisions Aaron Judge in an elevated role with the New York Yankees next season: Derek Jeter’s successor as captain.

Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge staggered Cleveland with early homers, and the New York Yankees rocked past the Guardians 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 of their AL Division Series to set up another rematch with Houston for the pennant.

The decisive Game 5 of the AL Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees has been postponed by rain after a 2 1/2-hour delay and rescheduled for Tuesday at 4:07 p.m. Both teams took batting practice ahead of the scheduled 7:07 p.m. start.

Oscar Gonzalez singled in the go-ahead run with Cleveland’s second straight bloop hit in the 10th inning, and the Guardians overcame a two-run deficit to beat the New York Yankees 4-2 and even their best-of-five AL Division Series at one game apiece.

The second game of the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians has been postponed because of rain in the forecast.

Cleveland’s 1,122 strikeouts were the fewest by far in the major leagues and its.

Aaron Judge went 0 for 2 with two walks and was hit by a pitch, remaining at 61 homers on the 61st anniversary of Roger Maris setting the American League record, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-0.

Aaron Judge didn’t come close to hitting his 62nd home run, going 1 for 2 with a pair of walks as the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 2-1.

Randy Arozarena hit a three-run homer off Nestor Cortes in the first inning and the Tampa Bay staff made it stand up, leading the Rays over the skidding New York Yankees 3-1.

The slumping New York Yankees were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since 2016, losing to Ryan Yarbrough and the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0.

Carlos Santana snapped an 0-for-17 slump with a go-ahead two-run homer during Seattle’s three-run seventh inning, and the Mariners rallied to beat the slumping New York Yankees 4-3.

Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 37th home run, fellow All-Star Nestor Cortes pitched six sharp innings and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-0.

David Ortiz will certainly hear loud chants of “Big Papi!”.

The Royals will be without 10 of the 26 players on their active roster for their upcoming trip to Toronto due to Canadian restrictions on travelers who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19.

Los Angeles Angels sensation Shohei Ohtani repeated as a two-way All-Star when he was picked for the AL pitching staff, two days after he was elected to start at designated hitter.

Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer in a four-run first inning, Matt Carpenter homered among three hits in his first start in left field in a decade and the New York Yankees beat Boston 12-5 for their 10th win in their last 11 games against the Red Sox.

Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton blasted consecutive homers, Nestor Cortes shut Cleveland down for six innings and the New York Yankees continued their torrid winning pace by beating the Guardians 6-1 to complete a doubleheader sweep.

Aaron Judge drove a three-run homer in the 10th inning for his second walk-off hit against Houston in four days, and the New York Yankees recovered after nearly being no-hit for the second consecutive game, beating Houston 6-3 to split a four-game series between the AL’s best teams.

Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes presented broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Kaat with the franchise’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday night.

Gerrit Cole took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning, Aaron Hicks hit a tiebreaking triple in the ninth as Manuel Margot slammed into the right-field wall and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 for their 50th win.

Matt Carpenter homered twice and tied his career high with seven RBIs, powering the New York Yankees to complete a weekend sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 18-4 rout for their 11th win in 12 games.

Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes says Minnesota Twins broadcaster Jim Kaat reached out and apologized after referring to New York’s breakout pitching star as “Nestor the Molester” during a broadcast Thursday night.

Minnesota Twins broadcaster Jim Kaat referred to New York Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes as “Nestor the Molester” during a broadcast Thursday, the second offensive remark in the past year by the 83-year-old Hall of Fame pitcher while calling a game.

Jameson Taillon took a perfect game into the eighth inning, then fell behind before the New York Yankees rallied past the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on a clutch swing by pinch-hitter Anthony Rizzo.

The Rays have put shortstop Wander Franco on the 10-day injured list with a right quadriceps strain, the latest setback for the injury-plagued team.

Nestor Cortes pitched a career-high eight innings and the New York Yankees took advantage of Michael Kopech’s one wild stretch by beating the Chicago White Sox 5-1.

Nestor Cortes took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before Eli White singled, and Anthony Rizzo doubled in a run in the bottom half to lift the New York Yankees over the Texas Rangers 1-0 for their sixth straight series win.

Rougned Odor broke a scoreless tie with a two-run single in the eighth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles went on to a 5-0 victory over the New York Yankees.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead grand slam over the Green Monster in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees beat Boston 5-3 to tie the Red Sox for the top spot in the AL wild-card race.

The surging Cardinals will try for a franchise-record 15th consecutive win in a game at Wrigley Field.

Gerrit Cole took a two-hit shutout into the sixth inning to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

The surging Cardinals will try for a franchise-record 15th consecutive win in a game at Wrigley Field.

Nestor Cortes and three relievers combined for a three-hitter and Brett Gardner and DJ LeMahieu drove in two runs each to lead the New York Yankees to a 4-0 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

Gio Urshela hit a three-run homer and the New York Yankees saved a little face by beating the Mets 4-2 to avoid a Subway Series sweep.