As one of the moves the New York Yankees made to pivot from Juan Soto signing with the New York Mets, Cody Bellinger started off slowly.
The former MVP and Rookie of the Year is heating up as Bellinger takes a 13-game hitting streak into Tuesday when the Yankees host the Texas Rangers in the opener of a three-game series. Bellinger is batting .377 (20-for-53) during a streak that ties his career best.
He helped the Yankees take two of three from the Mets by going 7-for-11 with seven RBIs in the Subway Series, capped by a big night in Sunday’s 8-2 win. The Yankees are 7-3 in their past 10 games.
“He’s swinging at the pitches he needs to be swinging at, and his balance is where it needs to be,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I really think it’s as simple as that.”
Bellinger hit a two-run double in the first inning and capped a six-run eighth with his ninth career grand slam. He tied a career high with six RBIs and reached base five times.
Bellinger was acquired from the Chicago Cubs in December following two bounce-back seasons after struggling in his final seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has seen his average climb from .196 to .258 during his streak.
“I feel like his approach is a little better,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said of Bellinger. “He really knows what he’s looking for when he steps in the box, and when he gets what he’s looking for, he’s not missing it.”
Texas is 8-5 since hiring Bret Boone, the brother of Aaron Boone, as its hitting coach on May 5. The Rangers lost three of four to start Bret Boone’s tenure but has seven wins in their past nine games.
Texas won six straight before losing two of the final three games of its four-game set with the Houston Astros. The Rangers did not get an extra-base hit and struck out 10 times Sunday when they took a 4-3 loss in a game where Jack Leiter pitched 6 2/3 hitless innings and gave up three runs in the eighth.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of positive takeaways to build off of this one,” Leiter said. “Very unfortunate we don’t get the win on a getaway day, win the series, all that. We’ve got a lot of things going good for us there.”
Josh Jung and Jake Burger hit RBI singles for the Rangers, who saw a streak of eight straight games with a homer halted.
Yankees right-hander Will Warren (2-2, 4.61 ERA) attempts to produce a third straight effective outing as he faces the Rangers for the first time. Warren’s ERA has dropped by a little over a run after he allowed three runs in 12 1/3 innings during New York’s road trip against the Athletics and Seattle Mariners.
Warren had a career-high nine strikeouts in a no-decision Wednesday in Seattle and has 24 of his 50 strikeouts in his past three outings.
Patrick Corbin (3-2, 3.35) starts for Texas and has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his first seven starts after finishing last season with a 5.62 ERA for the Washington Nationals.
Corbin last pitched on Wednesday in an 8-3 win over the Colorado Rockies when he allowed three runs on four hits in six innings. He also struck out nine, his most since June 28, 2023.
Corbin is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA in five career starts against the Yankees, who tried to sign the left-hander in free agency after the 2018 season.
–Field Level Media
