Nestor Cortes shakes off Mike Shildt, retires Shohei Ohtani in clutch showdown

Starting pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. is familiar with the Los Angeles Dodgers' star-studded lineup as he was on the receiving end of one of the most memorable moments from the World Series last year.

However, the San Diego Padres ace got his back in Saturday's game at Petco Park as he dominated the Dodgers in arguably his best start of the season.

Cortes took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and when manager Mike Shildt tried to take him off the mound, the former New York Yankees pitcher shrugged him off to face Shohei Ohtani and got the three-time MVP to fly out.

Nestor Cortes, who infamously conceded the historic grand slam to Freddie Freeman in the World Series last year with the Yankees, was traded to the Padres by the Milwaukee Brewers in July.

He pitched scoreless innings in his fourth start for the team in the trade as the Padres restricted the Dodgers to just two hits to win 5-1 and reclaim the top spot in the NL West.

Nestor Cortes shared feelings on getting swept by Dodgers

The Dodgers swept the Padres last weekend to climp to the top of the NL West. Nestor Cortes shared his feelings on getting the series win over their rivals after Saturday's win.

“We kind of got punched in the mouth," Cortes said. “We regrouped and had a good series against San Fran. Now, we came back and won this series. These guys are resilient.”

Padres manager Mike Shildt praised Cortes after his shutout outing.

“We’re still getting to know him,” Shildt said of Cortes. “It just feels like once he gets in a rhythm, it’s really good. He got in a rhythm right from the very first batter, just carried it through. That was a fantastic effort.”

Since suffering the series sweep, the Padres have bounced back by winning five consecutive games to set up an intense division race with 32 games to go in the regular season.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash