NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has told Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes that his pump fake pitch to Cleveland’s Andrés Giménez is against the rules.
Known for his deceiving leg kicks and windups, Cortes added another trick in his repertoire with a funky move to Giménez in the second inning last Sunday. He faked a throw by waving his left arm at Giménez, then raised a knee before finishing a pitch that Giménez fouled off.
“My thought was that doesn’t feel legal, but pretty funny, I think the guy fouled it off,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Saturday. “It would have been funnier it he punched him out. It’s just kind of one of the things he brings to the table that’s I think fun for the game and I think is part of what makes him unique and special -- but can’t do the pump fake anymore.”
Cortes would be charged with an automatic ball should he try the move again.
“I’m not going to do it but if I did do it, it probably would count as a ball,” Cortes said after the Yankees' 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday. “I think the reasoning behind it was like he can’t deceive the hitter in terms of what we’re trying to do.”
Boone said he called Mike Hill, MLB's senior vice president of on-field operations, to inquire before MLB had a chance to call him.
“I’m not really 100% what they said,” Cortes said. “I know Boonie came up to me and said it was illegal.”
Cortes allowed six hits in seven scoreless innings Saturday as New York lost to the Rays 2-0. Cortes struck out nine, his most since fanning 12 on Oct. 1, 2022, against Baltimore. Cortes is 1-1 with a 3.41 ERA in five starts.
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New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes waits for Cleveland Guardians' Gabriel Arias to run the bases after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes walks to the dugout after being removed in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.
It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.
Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.
“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.
Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.
“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."
Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.
Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.
“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.
Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.
Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.
FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
