NEW YORK — Brewers manager Pat Murphy saw some positives from his team in their 20-9 loss to the Yankees on Saturday, but he was appropriately blunt about the final result.

“What would you call that?” Murphy asked after reporters filed into his office, taking a beat. “An old-fashioned ass-whoopin’?”

The Brewers didn’t just allow 20 runs, falling to 0-2 on the season. Their pitchers gave up nine home runs in the bashing, a new single-game franchise record for the Yankees.

Left-hander Nestor Cortes, who was making his Brewers debut and facing his old team, dug his club into a hole early. The Yankees homered on the first three pitches from Cortes in the first inning, something that’s never happened before in MLB history.

Fastball to Paul Goldschmidt. Boom, a towering shot to left-center, Goldschmidt’s first home run in pinstripes.

Another fastball to Cody Bellinger. See ya, a no-doubter to right-center, Bellinger’s first homer in a Yankees uniform.

And a cutter to Aaron Judge. It was gone as soon as Judge made contact, a 468-foot missile to left that sent a sellout crowd in the Bronx into a frenzy.

“Yankees are a powerhouse,” Murphy said. “They go to the World Series last year? I think they did and they did some good things. I’ve been watching [Cody] Bellinger and [Paul] Goldschmidt for a long time. I know a little bit about how good they are. And that big giant, that kid’s good, right?”

Cortes was pulled after recording only six outs, charged with eight runs on five home runs, six total hits and five walks.

To make matters worse, Cortes didn’t speak to the media after the game.

Once Murphy spoke to reporters postgame, a Brewers official shared that Cortes had already left the stadium, not waiting to take questions at his locker.

That’s a surprise coming from the pitcher who made himself available after the walk-off grand slam he gave up to Freddie Freeman in Game 1 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium last fall. Cortes even stood at his locker and spoke with Yankees reporters on Opening Day for an extended period of time, reflecting on his time with the Yankees, the trade to Milwaukee and more.

According to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cortes apologized through a Brewers spokesperson for the premature departure, calling it “a miscommunication.” He’s now expected to speak to reporters on Sunday morning.

“He didn’t throw the ball good,” Murphy said. “He didn’t execute. Didn’t throw the ball good, he’d be the first to tell you.”

Asked how he thinks the left-hander handled his start, the emotions of being back at Yankee Stadium and everything that followed, Murphy called Cortes a pro. He raved about the left-hander in his pregame media session on Opening Day and for the Brewers, with all their pitching injuries, Cortes is a pivotal piece of the puzzle. They need him to bounce back from this and be an anchor to Milwaukee’s rotation, like he was with the Yankees for much of these last four seasons.

“My heart goes out to him,” Murphy said, “because he’s a great, great young man. A great teammate. So, your heart just hurts more because you know what he did to put his best foot forward.”

Murphy didn’t pull Cortes earlier because he was hoping the southpaw could settle in and find a rhythm. He never did, giving up a solo shot to Austin Wells later in the first and — arguably the biggest swing of the game — a three-run homer from Anthony Volpe with two outs (and a full count) in the second. The Brewers had battled back in the top of the second against Yankees ace Max Fried and cut their deficit to one. Volpe’s homer turned it back into the beginnings of a blowout.

“I don’t know how [Nestor] handled it, but I do know he’s a professional,” ex-Yankee Jake Bauers said in the Brewers’ clubhouse. “He’s a damn good pitcher and he’s gonna bounce back and he’s gonna be solid for us.”

Bauers came in to pitch in the eighth inning and had to face Judge with the slugger on the hunt for his fourth homer of the game.

“Regardless of being a position player pitching, I didn’t want to give him a homer,” Bauers said. “I was joking with him when he was on deck, I told him I’m gonna hit him in the ribs. Then gave him the best curveball I had. He still hit it pretty good.”

Judge ripped a 108.9-mph line drive to left field on the 55.3-mph mph eephus, but he was on top of it. Left fielder Isaac Collins was able to haul it in.

“I knew it was gonna stay in,” Bauers said. “Funny moment in an otherwise not good day.”

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Max Goodman may be reached at [email protected].