Cortes is facing a lengthy absence after hitting the injured list last week with a flexor strain in his left elbow. The 30-year-old southpaw will be shut down for a couple weeks before he’s cleared to resume a throwing program.

It’s the Reds’ third straight 1-0 defeat, with the first two coming at the hands of the Rangers. Cortes rebounded from serving up five homers his first time out, though he did yield two shots in Milwaukee tonight that would have been homers in Cincinnati. He wound up striking out six and walking two. He’s due to make his lone start next week in Colorado, so he won’t be a very good play then.

Yikes. Cortes didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome in his return to Yankee Stadium as he coughed up back-to-back-to-back home runs to Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge, respectively, on three consecutive pitches to open the contest. He also served up an additional first-inning solo shot to Austin Wells, just for good measure. Things snowballed even further out of control, somehow, when Anthony Volpe pulled a three-run homer into the left-field seats with two outs in the ensuing frame. He finished with two strikeouts and also handed out five free passes. It’s difficult to imagine a worse start to his Brewers debut. Cortes will attempt to turn things around on Thursday in a home matchup against the Reds.