AL DIVISION SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 18, 2022

Nestor Cortes

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Postgame 5 Press Conference

Yankees - 5, Guardians - 1

Q. When they asked you to take the ball on short rest, what type of responsibility were you feeling being tabbed as the starter?

NESTOR CORTES: A lot of pressure, obviously. Our season was on the line tonight, or today. I knew yesterday when Aaron Boone told me that I was starting today, he basically told me, you know, give us whatever you've got, whether it's one, whether it's three, whether it's five.

I was a little nervous because I knew the fans and everybody was waiting for our victory. But definitely, incredible atmosphere. Incredible feelings. Just happy to be here.

Q. What was different with how you were putting hitters away in this game compared to Friday?

NESTOR CORTES: I thought I induced a lot of weak contact today. I wasn't trying to strike out the world. I wasn't trying to do anything different. I thought the cutter was really good early on. I combined that with the heater. That combo was effective today.

Like I said, I induced a lot of soft contact, and that's the way that things went today.

Q. What was your reaction and the team reaction when Giancarlo hit that three-run homer?

NESTOR CORTES: Incredible. I knew from that moment on, all I had to do was throw strikes and be able to get us as deep as possible. Like I said, I didn't know how far I was going to go. I didn't know what my pitch count was. It was basically how I looked out there.

And for him to give us that three-run lead in the first from the get-go to was huge for me and calmed me down to go out there and do what I do.

Q. Can you talk about what makes him so do well in the postseason. He has 11 home runs. What makes him shine?

NESTOR CORTES: He cares. He cares a lot. Before this series even started, this guy, he doesn't speak very much during the season, but when he addresses a team and when he comes out and speaks, everybody listens to him because obviously he cares. He's been an MVP. He's done it all. I think he's missing a World Series ring, so when it comes down to these moments, he's hands on with everybody and giving us everything he has and we appreciate everything he does.

Q. How does it feel to come up so big in such a big game?

NESTOR CORTES: It feels incredible to be able to do what I did today.

Like I said, I didn't know how long I was going to go out there. I was just trying to give my team time innings, whether it was two innings, three, four, five innings. And it feels great to come on top and lead the team to the CS.

Q. What was the situation yesterday when Aaron told you you were starting today? Was it during the rain delay? Did he call you into the office or walk up to your stall?

NESTOR CORTES: We were waiting the whole night. I remember him saying, like, hey, we might play 8:50 and starts at 9:30 and 9:45. One thing led to the other and as soon as they bagged the game, he called me into his office and said, hey, we are going to talk a little bit between us and I'll let you know.

Maybe like five or ten minutes later, he came up to me and kind of gave me like a high-five and said, "You've got it. "I knew from that moment on, it was game time and I had to do everything to get ready for today.

Q. So you were by your locker when he gave you the high-five.

NESTOR CORTES: I was in the training room trying to get treatments done because I was available for yesterday if things got a little out of hand. But I was in the training room trying to get ready for today and he came up to the training room and told me what I needed to hear.

Q. Do you think that your fight in that third inning reflects on this ballclub and the way that you guys battle as a group and continue to move forward?

NESTOR CORTES: Yeah, we've had talks in that clubhouse that we're family. No matter how bad things can go or how good things can go, we've got to stay level-headed. We've got to compete. We're the only -- we've got ourselves. We don't have anybody else to lean on.

So for us to battle the way we did, you know, going down two games in the series and Gerrit Cole having that incredible performance in Game 4, it kind of lit a fire in me.

This guy is the ace. We thrive off him. And for him to do that, Game 4, it just left all the chips on the table for us to do what we did today.

Q. What are the players on the team saying about having another opportunity to face and potentially beat the Astros?

NESTOR CORTES: Yeah, we're excited. You know, everybody knows, we know, the whole world knows what kind of an Astros team they are. They run well. They hit well. They pitch well. They are a complete team. And I like to say that we are, too.

So it's going to be a battle between us two. We are going over there tonight. They have been on a couple days' rest, but that doesn't mean anything. We go out there tomorrow, just like we have been doing this whole season and these five games, battling every inning, trying to win every inning, and let the best team win.

Q. Pretty much everyone says they want the big moment, and not everybody can handle the big moment. Why do you want the big moment and why do you think you can handle the big moment?

NESTOR CORTES: I've got nothing to lose. I've been in the gutter before. I've been down. So for me, this is just a cherry on top and hopefully there's more moments like this.

I feel like today, I came in with the responsibility in my hands to take care of the narrative, to take care of what my career has been. And I was just happy to perform and give my team solid innings for them to be in the game.

Obviously our offense broke out early, and that's kind of all we needed for this game. But, you know, it's great to be in this position.

Q. Jumping off on that, when Boone was in here, he said when he saw you coming out of the bullpen in a mop-up role, you showed the mentality to compete in the big situations. Did the difficult years prepare you for a situation like this or is that something you've always had?

NESTOR CORTES: I think I've always had that fight in me. Obviously what happened in 2019, it's hard to say. I was trying to find a place in my career and this team. I probably tried to show more than what I can really do. Put me behind the 8-ball for a few years.

But I was lucky enough for the organization and the Yankees to believe in me to bring me back in 2021. And from there on, everything just jump started to what I've been doing today. Like I said, I'm grateful for the opportunity they gave me. I'm grateful for everybody in the front office and coaches, I mean, down the line, for the opportunity to believe in me, and I'm glad I was able to show it today.