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- Yanks' Cody Bellinger hits 3rd home run of game against Cubs, an inning after being robbed</p>
<p>RONALD BLUM July 11, 2025 at 11:48 PM</p>
<p>1 / 5Cubs Yankees BaseballNew York Yankees' Cody Bellinger hits a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Friday, July 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Robbed an inning earlier, Cody Bellinger wasn't sure his first three-homer game had been swiped away again.</p>
<p>"I didn't know at first," he said. "For that third one to finally get over feels pretty good."</p>
<p>Bellinger hit three two-run homers against his former team and was denied a fourth by a spectacular catch, leading the Yankees to an 11-0 rout of the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.</p>
<p>Aaron Judge made a trio of outstanding grabs in right field for the Yankees, who have won fifth straight games following a a six-game losing streak.</p>
<p>Bellinger, whose dad Clay played for the Yankees from 1999 to 2001, is a two-time All-Star and 2019 NL MVP.</p>
<p>He spent 2023 and '24 with the Cubs, hitting .266 with 18 homers and 78 RBIs in 130 games last year while missing time because of a broken right rib. The Cubs traded him to New York in December with $52.5 million remaining on his contract and agreed to pay the Yankees $5 million.</p>
<p>He homered in a three-run third off Chris Flexen and in the fifth against Caleb Thielbar for this 18th multi-homer game. Bellinger nearly went deep in the seventh but was robbed by Kyle Tucker on a drive above the right-field wall.</p>
<p>"I was watching it. He timed it up perfect, so I was a little sick about it, honestly," Bellinger said. "But it was a good catch."</p>
<p>"Boys were giving me a hard time after he robbed it. Boonie was giving me hard time," Bellinger added.</p>
<p>A four-time All-Star and a Gold Glove winner, Tucker snatched the ball as a fan tried for it, the spectator clasping both sides of the outfielder's glove.</p>
<p>"I caught the ball and he caught my glove, so I figured even if I dropped it they'd probably look at it and get it overturned," Tucker said. "I've probably had some encounters with me trying to go into the stands and catching a ball and me hitting someone's hand or whatever but I don't know if anyone's ever actually kind of caught my glove while doing it."</p>
<p>Bellinger homered in the eighth off Jordan Wicks, just above the red glove of leaping center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and into the dark glove of a kid in the front row.</p>
<p>"The fan just beat to the spot," Crow-Armstrong said. "He just had a better chance of catching it higher than I did."</p>
<p>Bellinger, who had rounded first, watched and then smiled when he saw he had hit No. 3.</p>
<p>"Glad the fan caught it before PCA could grab it," said Bellinger, who met the boy after and got the ball back. "I've seen PCA rob so many homers. He's a freak athlete out there."</p>
<p>Bellinger is batting .406 over a career-high 16-game hitting streak, raising his average to .285 with 16 homers and 54 RBIs.</p>
<p>He had spoken with his Cubs ex-teammates during batting practice.</p>
<p>"No, no, no revenge," he said. "Honestly, ultimately it was just fun to be out there. I saw a bunch of guys I hadn't seen in a while and I shared a bunch of good memories with them for these past two years."</p>
<p>Jazz Chisholm Jr. and manager Aaron Boone encouraged Bellinger to emerge from the dugout for a curtain call.</p>
<p>"He was a little reluctant, but then the Bell-lin-ger" over the dugout got pretty loud. So I think he succumbed to it," Boone said. "Belly's loved being here and loved playing here in a meaningful place to him, going back to his childhood."</p>
<p>Bellinger turns 30 on Sunday and can opt out of the final season of his contract this fall. With long balls and wide smiles, he seems to have found a home in the Yankees clubhouse.</p>
<p>He tried not to make much of getting the three homers against the Cubs, but Bellinger's teammates could sense the significance.</p>
<p>"It's always good to go against your old teammates that you spend a lot of time with, you know, you respect," Boone said. "To perform right away against them I'm sure probably is a little cherry on top for him."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP MLB: https://ift.tt/AExY1pu>
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