All that stood between Cody Bellinger and Lou Gehrig in Yankee Stadium Friday night was a leaping Kyle Tucker. The Chicago Cubs right fielder robbed Bellinger of what ultimately would have been the first four-homer game by a New York Yankees player since Gehrig’s in 1932.
A three-homer performance was quite the consolation prize for Bellinger, especially during an 11-0 win in his first game against his former team.
Bellinger, who played for the Cubs the previous two seasons before he was traded to the Yankees in a salary dump this past 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.
The 6-foot-3 lefty hails from Scottsdale, Arizona, but he might as well have rent in right field because that’s where he was living Friday. The two-time All-Star deposited two of his dingers there, and it was also the scene of the crime for Tucker’s seventh-inning theft.
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 now-16-game hitting streak. He also became the third Yankees player this season to deliver a three-homer game, joining Aaron Judge and Jasson Domínguez in making franchise single-season history. Three three-homer games is a first for the storied club.
Judge accomplished the feat on March 29 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Domínguez did it on May 9 versus the Athletics.
Speaking of Judge, he put on a web gem clinic in right field Friday. Judge 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.
Meanwhile, fresh off the news he’ll replace teammate Max Fried in this year’s All-Star Game, Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón spun eight scoreless frames.
It was a star-studded Yankees performance.
Bellinger was the headliner with a trio of home runs against his former team.
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