Nestor Cortes pitches gem as he makes case for Yankees playoff rotation spot

SEATTLE — On a night when the Yankees punched their ticket to the postseason, Nestor Cortes continued to make his case to be a part of their playoff rotation.The left-hander delivered six shutout innings against the Mariners on the way to a 2-1, 10-inning win on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Park.“I’m just trying to pull my weight around here and compete with the guys that are the best around the league,” Cortes said amidst a rowdy champagne and beer celebration inside the visiting clubhouse.Cortes has now pitched to a 1.58 ERA over his last six outings — one of which was a long relief appearance as the Yankees put him in the bullpen one turn through the rotation.Though Cortes has past experience out of the bullpen and could help the Yankees there in October, he also has previously started playoff games and has shown he is not intimidated by the big stage.“Nestor’s done a fantastic job for us this year,” Gerrit Cole said.

“He’s taken the ball every single time in whatever role we’ve asked him.He’s pitched well and gave us a chance to win almost every time he goes out there.”Marcus Stroman is currently the odd man out in the bullpen this turn through the rotation, but the Yankees will have to trim another starter or two once they get to the playoffs.Wednesday’s outing was Cortes’ fourth scoreless appearance in his last seven games.

He limited the Mariners to four hits (one of them a double by Justin Turner that Jasson Dominguez should have caught in center field) and three walks while striking out six.“I feel like he’s throwing the ball really well,” manager Aaron Boone said.“Feel like it’s been a real strong year for Nestor.”For the first time this season — aside from when he missed five weeks with a hamstring strain — Giancarlo Stanton was out of the lineup Wednesday for a second straight game.Stanton said he was fine physically, but he was on the bench for a second straight day as Aaron Judge received another DH day ...