Nestor Cortes silences his Dodgers demons with 6 brilliant innings, pitching Padres into 1st place
August 23, 2025
Nestor Cortes had one of the lowest moments of his baseball life last October when he gave up the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history to Freddie Freeman. In a new uniform and a new pennant race Saturday night, Cortes faced his Dodgers demons head-on and came out smiling. The veteran left-hander produced six brilliant innings of one-hit ball while the San Diego Padres surged past Los Angeles into sole possession of first place in the NL West with a 5-1 victory. Cortes took a perfect game into the sixth inning, but he didn’t see his stellar performance as redemption.