LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Boone has one regret about his pitching decisions during Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night. It's not the one Yankees fans would think. With a night to ponder what went wrong in the 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 10 innings , the Yankees manager said before Game 2 on Saturday that he still would have put Nestor Cortes into a high-leverage situation with one out in the 10th inning despite not pitching since Sept.
18. Cortes gave up a walk-off grand slam to Freddie Freeman in his first appearance in over a month. What Boone would have done differently, though, is he would have had Luke Weaver go longer.
“I have no problem with Nestor. Even after the fact, I feel like that was the right move with one out,” Boone said. “The biggest thing is, do I send (Weaver) back out there for the third up? That’s the one that I quibble.
” Weaver, the Yankees’ best relief pitcher during the postseason, retired all five hitters he faced in 1 2/3 innings. The right-hander came in with one out in the eighth and Shohei Ohtani on third. A sacrifice fly by Mookie Betts brought in Ohtani to tie it at 2.
Jake Cousins replaced Weaver in the 10th. Cousins got Will Smith to fly out but walked Gavin Lux and gave up an infield single to Tommy Edman. That's when Boone went to Cortes.
Weaver threw 19 pitches. Had he faced a couple more batters, he likely would not have been available until the Series went to New York for Game 3 on Monday. “He’s pitch e.
