In a Subway Series that featured Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, neither was the best player on the field.
That title belonged to Cody Bellinger, whose first taste of this rivalry seemed pretty delicious.
Over the three weekend games, Bellinger tallied 14 plate appearances and was retired four times.
He picked a nice time for the best series of his season, Bellinger’s eighth-inning grand slam putting the finishing touches on the 8-2 Yankees win over the Mets on Sunday in The Bronx.
“I thought it was very fun,” said a player who had long seen Dodgers-Giants battles and now has seen the intensity of Yankees-Mets. “Obviously, there was a little extra energy in the stadium with both fans being from New York, so I really enjoyed it.”
He enjoyed the game-changing eighth inning, when Jorbit Vivas survived a battle against Ryne Stanek, which led to Pete Alonso airmailing a throw to the plate.
Four batters later, the Yankees had loaded the bases for Bellinger against lefty Génesis Cabrera, who tried to sneak a first-pitch fastball by him.
Bellinger turned on the inside four-seamer and launched the type of deep fly ball that the Yankees envisioned this offseason when they acquired him from the Cubs.
The Yankees are uniquely incentivized to bring in lefty bats who can pull the ball in the air because shots like Bellinger’s — an estimated 356 feet that just eluded the leaping glove of Soto — become home runs in The Bronx (and only four other MLB parks, according to Statcast, including Steinbrenner Field).
“I saw it well,” Bellinger said, “I was [thinking] I’m going to try and put a good swing on this ball.”
It worked, as it has been increasingly working.
His enormous, six-RBI Sunday night also included a two-run double in the first, an infield single that ricocheted off the foot of Mets pitcher Huascar Brazobán in the seventh and two walks, tying a career high by reaching base five times.
A player who owned a .610 OPS as recently as May 3 has shot up to a .789 OPS because of a sizzling streak in which he said there have not been significant swing tweaks.
When he slumped in April, he blamed his plate discipline, believing he was attacking pitches that fell out of the strike zone too often.
“Early on felt like I was chasing too much, trying to do too much,” said Bellinger, who had no such regrets about the pitches he tried for Sunday (or Saturday or Friday).
“He’s swinging at pitches he needs to be swinging at and his balance is where it needs to be,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I really think it’s as simple as that.”
