The Yankees won an absolute nail-biter last night, topping the Rays 4-3 to take the series opener down in Tampa. They enter play 2.5 games back of Oakland for the second wild card spot, giving every one of these games extra weight, and they can win this series against the Rays with a victory tonight.
Nestor Cortes Jr. is the Yankees’ starter. He’s certainly not the best pitcher in baseball, but he’s got to be among the most fun to watch. He nominally throws five pitches per Statcast, although his slider will also look cutterish from time to time.