Yankees’ Nestor Cortes rankled by fifth-inning yanking against Red Sox

BOSTON — Aaron Boone was convinced he wanted to see his bullpen take over a game in which Nestor Cortes was battling.

Cortes was convinced that he did not want to see his manager walking toward the mound.

Cortes was not happy to be lifted in the fifth inning of Friday’s 9-7 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park, though his pitching had not mounted a strong enough argument for the lefty to stay in the game.

In the inning, the Red Sox already had scored a go-ahead run against Cortes in a contest the Yankees trailed, 4-3.

With a runner on third and two outs, Cortes hit Ceddanne Rafaela in the elbow with a 2-2 cutter, bringing up righty Jamie Westbrook and bringing Boone out to the mound.

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“I felt like it was the right time to get him with the amount of traffic he had all night,” Boone said of Cortes, who had allowed nine hits, two walks and four runs in 4 ²/₃ innings.

Cortes’ 81st pitch hit Rafaela.

He appeared to be preparing for Westbrook, the No. 9 hitter, before glancing toward the dugout and seeing Boone approaching.

Cortes rolled his eyes.

When Boone reached the mound, Cortes held the ball in his glove for a moment, hoping to show he felt he could remain.

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Boone asked for the ball, and Cortes gave it to him and walked off.

“I think as a competitor, as a starter, you’re always going to be frustrated coming out of the game there,” said Cortes, whose struggles away from The Bronx continued. “Eighty-one pitches, and I understand [11] people on base on the night.

“But I thought I made a lot of good pitches throughout the whole night. A lot of soft contact. Gave up some hard ones in obviously unopportunistic times, and that’s why the runs scored.”

Boone’s decision-making worked.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora pinch-hit ex-Mets and lefty-swinging Dom Smith for Westbrook after Boone had gone to Tommy Kahnle.

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With two on, Kahnle froze Smith with a fastball and yelled coming off the mound.

Still, Cortes wanted the ball.

He did not complete a 1-2-3 inning on the night but pitched well enough in big moments to keep his team in the game.

The Red Sox found plenty of holes, but they also struck seven balls in play that registered at least 95 mph off the bat.

Cortes has now allowed 15 earned runs in his past 13 ¹/₃ innings and three starts, his ERA spiking to 4.13.

“I thought Nestor threw the ball well, but they … made him work,” Boone said. “A lot of traffic against him. I thought he managed contact pretty well. They didn’t hit a ton of balls real hard against him. But definitely a lot of base runners.”

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