There was plenty of relief to be found in The Bronx on Saturday afternoon.
A struggling Yankees rotation welcomed back Nestor Cortes, with a large exhale after he pitched four strong innings, before a steady stream of relievers finished the job.
Cortes, Ian Hamilton, Tommy Kahnle, Michael King and Clay Holmes combined on a two-hitter as the Yankees staff matched a season-high with 16 strikeouts.
They outpitched three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, spoiling his first start for the Astros since the Mets shipped him out, in a 3-1 win over the hated rivals in front of 41,411 at the Stadium.
“That’s Nestor right there,” manager Aaron Boone said of the valuable lefty, who showed glimpses of pitching as he did in his All-Star 2022 season.
“Obviously he’s not built up yet, but that’s what it looks like.”
The Yankees (58-53) will not lose the series to the Astros (63-49), having won two of three before the finale Sunday.
Starter Carlos Rodon can give the Yankees their first series victory since they swept the Royals on July 21-23.
Boone’s crew also moved three games behind the Blue Jays in the hunt for the final AL wild-card spot before Toronto played at Boston later Saturday.
The Yankees’ offense produced little against Verlander, who allowed just two runs on seven hits over seven innings, but that’s all it needed to produce.
Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly in the second inning scored Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the game’s first run, and Jake Bauers’ 11th home run of the season, in the fifth inning, became the game-winner.
Gleyber Torres added his 17th homer of the season to provide insurance in the eighth inning.
“Finally,” Torres said of beating Verlander, who has a 1.42 ERA in three starts against the Yankees this season. “We got a couple opportunities, and we took advantage of that.”
Cortes was excellent, allowing one run on one hit, a Jose Altuve home run, in his first start in more than two months.
But he is still stretching out and was pulled after 64 pitches.
He had been rushed back after Domingo German left the team to seek treatment for alcohol abuse.
The rotation has been an problem that has grown larger, but in Cortes’ return, he looked more powerful and healthier than when he last took the mound May 30.
He had struggled, with a 5.16 ERA, before hitting the injured list with a left rotator cuff strain.
On Saturday, Cortes immediately showed stuff that he did not possess in 11 outings earlier this season.
His fastest pitch in April and May was recorded at 94.7 mph. His first-inning strikeout of Kyle Tucker came on a 95.6-mph heater.
“I felt like I was a lot stronger than I was three months ago, even to start the season,” Cortes said. “Sixty-something days [on the injured list] were too long.”
Cortes walked one and recorded 12 outs, eight on strikeouts. Houston batters swung at 34 of his pitches and missed 17 of them, the most misses Cortes has induced all year.
Within a rotation that no longer includes German and might not proceed with an ineffective Luis Severino, the Yankees will need this version of Cortes to remain.
“It’s a huge lift,” Boone said after his staff held the Astros to their fewest hits of the season. “It’s why we were looking forward to getting him back because we know what he’s capable of.”
After Cortes exited, Hamilton pitched two hitless innings and Kahnle added a hitless frame.
Yainer Diaz blooped a leadoff single against King in the eighth, but the righty stranded Diaz at first.
Holmes picked up his 16th save of the season with a perfect ninth.
Yankees relievers have allowed just four runs in their past 34 ²/₃ innings (1.04 ERA), easily the biggest strength on a floundering club.
“I think in the first half, the bullpen did everything for us,” Torres said. “We’ve had some trouble on the offensive side.”
The troubles are not gone, and the Yankees managed just three runs with their nine hits. Anthony Rizzo is on the injured list.
Giancarlo Stanton, who was thrown out at home in the third inning, is clearly not comfortable on the basepaths.
But as Cortes returned with excellence and the bullpen dominated, a different route to a postseason spot at least has become a possibility.
