Cody Bellinger homered twice and drove in four runs as the New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 9-4 on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. The victory improved the Yankees to 22-11, a season-high 11 games over .500 and the best record in the American League. Bellinger went 4-for-4, falling a triple short of the cycle.
Bellinger opened the scoring with a solo home run off Kyle Bradish in the second inning, his fourth of the season. He added a double in the third to drive in Trent Grisham and later belted his fifth homer of the year off Keegan Akin in the fifth, giving the Yankees a 5-1 lead. In the seventh, he singled to plate Ben Rice, capping his four-RBI performance as New York pulled away with three runs in the inning, highlighted by Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s two-run single that also scored Aaron Judge and Bellinger. The Orioles closed to 6-4 in the sixth on Samuel Basallo's two-run double off Jake Bird before the Yankees sealed the win. “I love where we are as a team,” Bellinger said. “We are very athletic. I feel like we can beat the opponent in many different ways. Right now, we are showing it. We just want to continue to keep it rolling.” Yankees manager Aaron Boone praised Bellinger's all-around game. “You see the speed, power, athleticism, the two-strike hitting – dunking one out in center field to extend the lead with his second at-bat. It was a great day by a great player,” Boone said. Bellinger reached base four times for the second straight game against Baltimore and has done so in 27 of 32 games this season.
