All that stood between Cody Bellinger and Lou Gehrig in Yankee Stadium on Friday was a leaping Kyle Tucker. The Chicago Cubs’ right fielder robbed Bellinger of what would’ve been the first four-homer game by a Yankee since Gehrig in 1932.
A three-homer performance was quite the consolation prize for Bellinger, especially in an 11-0 victory in his first game against his former team.
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Bellinger, who played for the Cubs the previous two seasons before he was traded to the Yankees in a salary dump in December, got a curtain call in the eighth inning after his third blast narrowly cleared the wall in right-center field.
“I know his time there was really good,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Bellinger’s stint in Chicago, via The Athletic. “I don’t want to make it like anything like that, but it’s always good to go against your old teammates that you spent a lot of time with, [who] you know and respect.
“To perform right away against them, I’m sure, probably is a little cherry on top of it all.”
All three of Bellinger’s home runs scored two runs. He tied his single-game career high with 6 RBI.
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Bellinger’s final swing launched his third big fly to right-center, where he was assisted by a young fan who gave Cubs All-Star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong a taste of Tucker’s medicine, robbing PCA of a spectacular catch.
Bellinger extended his hitting streak to 16 games. He also became the third Yankees player this season to deliver a three-homer game, joining Aaron Judge and Jasson Domínguez to make franchise history. Three three-homer games in one season is a first for the storied club. Judge accomplished the feat on March 29 against the Milwaukee Brewers, and Domínguez did it May 9 versus the Athletics.
Speaking of Judge, he put on a web gem clinic in right field Friday. He robbed Crow-Armstrong — an NL MVP candidate — of a home run in the fourth inning. Additionally, he made a pair of diving grabs, one in the fourth and another in the eighth.
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Meanwhile, fresh off the news that he’ll replace teammate Max Fried in this year’s All-Star Game, Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón spun eight scoreless frames. Altogether, it was a star-studded Yankees performance.
