Yankees

Cody Bellinger’s Clutch Double Sparks Yankees to 9-3 Win

By ••3 min read
Cody Bellinger’s Clutch Double Sparks Yankees to 9-3 Win

The Yankees had one of those games Wednesday night where things could have gone sideways in a hurry.

Instead, Cody Bellinger stepped up with the bases loaded and changed the entire night.

Bellinger ripped a go-ahead 2-run double off the top of the center-field wall in the 7th inning, breaking a 3-3 tie and helping send the Yankees to a 9-3 win over the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium.

New York improved to 75-57 and has now won 11 of its last 17 games.

Bellinger delivers when the Yankees needed it

The 7th inning started with Trent Grisham reaching on a single before Ben Rice walked. Luis García Jr. followed with an infield single to load the bases.

Then Bellinger got a 1-1 fastball from Bennett Sousa and drove it to deep center.

For a second, it looked like it might leave the park. It didn’t need to.

Grisham and Rice scored, giving the Yankees a 5-3 lead.

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Spencer Jones followed with an RBI single to bring García home, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. doubled home Bellinger to make it 7-3.

That’s the type of inning this offense needs more often. No waiting around for one guy to hit a 3-run homer. They kept putting pressure on Houston and eventually buried them.

Ben Rice keeps crushing baseballs

Rice got the Yankees started in the 1st inning with his 35th home run of the season, a solo shot to right field that tied the game at 1.

García later scored on a George Lombard Jr. groundout to give New York a 2-1 lead.

Rice is now just 1 home run behind Yordan Alvarez for the American League lead. His homer also gave the Yankees their first 1st-inning run in 24 games.

Yes, 24 games.

That drought needed to end sometime.

Luis García Jr. stays scorching hot

García may have been the best hitter on the field again.

After going 4-for-5 Tuesday night, García followed it up by going 3-for-5 with 3 runs, 2 RBI and his 28th home run.

His 2-run shot in the 8th gave the Yankees some extra breathing room and pushed the lead to 9-3.

That’s 7 hits in 2 games against Houston.

The Yankees brought García in to add another dangerous left-handed bat to the lineup, and right now he’s giving them exactly that.

Elmer Rodríguez gave the Yankees a chance

Elmer Rodríguez made his first Major League start since June 21 and gave the Yankees 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks.

Houston tied the game in the 7th after Rodríguez walked Jose Altuve and Paul Blackburn entered. A George Lombard Jr. error allowed Altuve to score, but Blackburn refused to let the inning get away from him.

With the bases loaded, he struck out Jeremy Peña to keep the game tied.

That escape became much bigger a few minutes later when the Yankees exploded for 4 runs.

Michael Fulmer then worked a perfect 8th inning in his Yankees debut, including a strikeout of Alvarez, before Tim Hill finished it in the 9th.

The Yankees weren’t perfect Wednesday night. They made another defensive mistake and gave Houston opportunities to take control.

But this time the offense answered.

Bellinger delivered the biggest swing, García stayed red-hot, Rice continued his home run chase, and the Yankees walked away with a convincing 9-3 win.

Now they have a chance to finish the series Thursday with Gerrit Cole on the mound.

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