New York Yankees star Cody Bellinger delivered a historic performance on Friday night at Yankee Stadium, launching three two-run home runs in an 11-0 rout over his former team, the Chicago Cubs. In doing so, Bellinger became the first player in MLB history to hit three homers in his first game against a former team. He drove in six runs, matching a career high, and extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
Traded from the Cubs to the Yankees last December 17 in exchange for right-hander Cody Poteet, Bellinger made an emphatic statement against his old club. He hit home runs in the third, fifth, and eighth innings, off pitchers Chris Flexen, Caleb Thielbar, and Jordan Wicks, respectively. He nearly added a fourth homer in the seventh inning, but Kyle Tucker made a leaping catch at the wall.
Bellinger’s offensive eruption drew immediate All-Star praise from teammates.
“Excited to head to Atlanta. We’ve got a lot of great guys going to the game. Hopefully, we can sneak Bellinger in there with the season he’s had so far,” said Aaron Judge.
Carlos Rodon, who picked up his 10th win after pitching eight shutout innings with eight strikeouts, also said, “He’s making his push to be an All-Star, I think. In my book, he is.”
Judge also shined defensively, making three outstanding plays in right field. He robbed Pete Crow-Armstrong of a fourth-inning homer with a leaping grab at the wall, made a diving catch on Dansby Swanson’s liner to end the inning, and cut off a potential extra-base hit from Kyle Tucker in the eighth with runners on.
This was Bellinger’s first career three-homer game and the 18th multi-homer game of his career. He became the 29th player in Yankees history to hit at least three homers in a regular-season game and the third Yankee to do so this season, joining Judge (March 29 vs. Milwaukee) and Jasson Domínguez (May 9 vs. Oakland).
The crowd of 46,327 erupted after Bellinger’s third homer, calling for a curtain call. Though initially hesitant, he emerged from the dugout after encouragement from Judge and manager Aaron Boone.
Now slashing .285/.340/.498 with 16 home runs and 54 RBIs in his first season with the Yankees, Bellinger’s all-around performance earned high praise from Boone, who called him a winning player with elite defensive versatility and consistent offensive contributions.
The Yankees have now extended their winning streak to five games, following a prior six-game losing streak. They’ve scored five or more runs in 10 straight games, a feat they last accomplished in July of 2012.
