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New York Post
9 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Yankees' Cody Bellinger makes A's pay for intentionally walking Aaron Judge
Access the Yankees beat like never before Don't miss Greg Joyce's text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he's giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees. Sign Up Now Cody Bellinger gets it. He knows why opponents have intentionally walked — and will continue intentionally walking — Aaron Judge in certain spots, even with Judge encountering a rough patch the past two weeks. Advertisement 'Understandable,' Bellinger said. 'I mean, he's the best hitter on the planet.' The A's opted for the same strategy in the third inning Friday with Anthony Volpe on second and first base open, choosing to face the 2019 National League MVP instead of the 2022 and 2024 American League winner — who's also a clear favorite for the award again this year — in the middle of a historic season. And three pitches later, Bellinger delivered again, driving in Volpe with a single to give the Yankees a two-run lead and improving to 3-for-9 with four RBIs in 12 plate appearances following Judge intentional walks. Advertisement 'It's [the] product of a good hitter that's been around, been there and done that and doesn't get overwhelmed or over-amped,' manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees' 3-0 win to open a series in The Bronx. 'Sometimes, you want to show so bad in those situations. That can get you into some trouble. He seems to manage that really well.' Bellinger, who added another single in the eighth to cap a 2-for-4 night, has produced three singles and a sacrifice fly in those settings this year, and collectively the Yankees have gone 6-for-15 after Judge's MLB-high 18 intentional walks in 2025. Jazz Chisholm Jr., who said he thinks those situations provide 'a lot of added motivation,' has gone 2-for-4 with a homer and a single, while Ben Rice produced an RBI double in one of his two chances. Cody Bellinger rips an RBI single in the third inning of the Yankees' 3-0 win over the A's on June 27, 2025. Jason Szenes / New York Post Advertisement CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS Those walks will only continue over the final half of the regular season given Judge's .358 average, 28 homers and 63 RBIs. Judge remains on track to shatter the career-high 21 intentional walks he received between the regular season and playoffs last year. So far, though, the Yankees have continued to convert in those scenarios. Advertisement Cody Bellinger rips an RBI single during the third inning of the Yankees' win over the A's. Robert Sabo / New York Post They've strung together run-scoring hits in those spots. Bellinger's single — which continued his in-season turnaround following a slow start, with his average dipping beneath .200 in early May — marked just the latest. 'Especially for me, it's like, feel like that's really disrespectful to walk someone in front of me — with Cody, especially the career that he's had, to walk someone in front of him,' Chisholm said. 'I know it's Judge, but still.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB Turns Heads With Ronald Acuna Jr. Post on Wednesday
MLB Turns Heads With Ronald Acuna Jr. Post on Wednesday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. When the Atlanta Braves closed out the 2024 regular season, they did so with an 89-73 mark, good for second place in the National League East, before falling 0-2 to the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card Series. Advertisement It was a familiar postseason fate for a franchise accustomed to deep October runs but only one World Series title to show for it since 1995. For much of the early 2025 campaign, fans waited for the return of Ronald Acuna Jr., who had missed the first 49 games recovering from his torn ACL. He finally rejoined the lineup on May 23, immediately showcasing the five-tool prowess that earned him National League MVP honors in 2023. In just 104 at-bats since his debut this season, Acuna has slugged nine home runs, 16 RBIs and 40 hits with a .385 batting average, .496 on-base percentage and .692 slugging percentage. Advertisement As Acuna continues to thrive on base, the MLB revealed on Wednesday that Acuna will be the first confirmed participant in the 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby, set for July 14 at Truist Park in Atlanta. Fans online instantly reacted to MLB's post. "Why did you post the winner so soon?" said one user. "Breaking: Ronald Acuna Jr announces he has won the home run derby*," another fan responded. "Let's gooooo Ronnie!" one other user replied. "How is it already over," said another commenter. "He's hitting bombs fs," responded one other user. "LETS GOOOO," another fan replied. Atlanta Braves' right fielder Ronald Acuna Zanine-Imagn Images This will mark Acuna's third Home Run Derby appearance, following semifinal exits at stunningly narrow margins against Pete Alonso in both 2019 and 2022. Advertisement Notably, no Braves player has ever hoisted the Derby trophy since the event's inception in 1985. Related: Cubs Make Pete Crow-Armstrong Announcement on Thursday Related: MLB Makes Strong Aaron Judge Statement on Sunday This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Pete Crow-Armstrong forgot how many outs there were in embarrassing Cubs blunder
Pete Crow-Armstrong's brain fart cost the Cubs dearly. The outfielder caught Alec Burleson's long fly ball to center field in the fourth inning on Tuesday night and turned to jog back to the dugout — unfortunately, the out marked only the second of the inning and allowed Masyn Winn to score from second, giving the Cardinals an 8-5 lead. Winn's dash around the basepaths proved to be the winning run in an 8-7 Cubs loss — the team's third straight. Advertisement 'He lost track of the outs. It's just a mistake,' manager Craig Counsell told reporters. 3 Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) catches a sacrifice fly hit by St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Alec Burleson. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect 3 Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong reacts after allowing Masyn Winn to score from second base on a flyout. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Crow-Armstrong's Cubs teammates weren't going to let the loss hang on his shoulders, either. Advertisement 'He's been so good for us this year,' starter Jameson Taillon said. 'Obviously, he's one of the best defenders in baseball. That's just a freak thing. He takes a lot of pride in his defense, takes a lot of pride in being a great teammate, so I'm not too worried about it. I was more mad at myself for giving up the homers and giving up a lot of hard contact. 'I'm not too concerned with the eighth run I gave up. I'm concerned with all eight. I'm sure it won't happen again. He's been so good for us.' The blunder comes as Crow-Armstrong continues to cool off after a torrid start to the season that had some talking up as a potential National League MVP candidate. Advertisement 3 Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) slides safely past Chicago Cubs catcher Reese McGuire (20) after he scored from second base. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Crow-Armstrong is hitting .273 with 21 home runs, 61 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases through 78 games. Most of that production came in April and May, though, as he is hitting just .259 with nine home runs, 23 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases in his last 30 games entering . Advertisement He didn't seem like he was going to let the play snowball into something bigger, with a pretty simple plan for dealing with it. 'Go to sleep and wake up,' he said. Despite the mistake, he has grown into one of the best players in baseball, with a WAR rating of 4.0, the third best in all of baseball behind Yankees star Aaron Judge (6.1) and Mariners' breakout star Cal Raleigh (5.4). The former Mets prospect was traded to the Cubs in 2021 in exchange for pitcher Trevor Williams and Javier Baez at the trade deadline.
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago Cubs are in a funk with 3rd straight loss — 8-7 to the Cardinals — and their 5th in the last 6 games
ST. LOUIS — Pete Crow-Armstrong bluntly described his remedy to flush a tough game. 'Go to sleep and wake up.' Crow-Armstrong has helped the Chicago Cubs win a lot of games this year — and will continue to, as his valuable all-around performance already puts him in conversations for National League MVP. Two moments in the Cubs' 8-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday at Busch Stadium featured rare blemishes for the 23-year-old: His gaffe forgetting the number of outs cost a run and he later opted to bunt with runners on the corners in a one-run game. Crow-Armstrong's actions parallel a difficult stretch for the Cubs. 'I didn't do a good job of playing baseball today,' Crow-Armstrong said. ' … I gave two outs so can't really do much about that.' The defeat cut the Cubs' division lead to 2 1/2 games over the Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers as they ride a three-game losing streak and losses in five of their last six games. The Cubs (46-33) became the last team in the majors to record at least two losing streaks of three or more games. 'It's remarkable that it's near the end of June for this kind of conversation to start, but obviously what's ahead of us is what matters,' Nico Hoerner told the Tribune of the team's struggles following the loss. 'But I think that speaks to the quality of this group, and that's what I expect from us moving forward.' The Cubs' recent problems are broader and more concerning than their budding star experiencing a bad game. Right-hander Jameson Taillon got tagged for eight runs, including three home runs for 21 on the season to match last year's total in 75 fewer innings. Taillon has allowed 13 earned runs between his last two starts, the second-most in a two-game span during his career since 2017 with Pittsburgh (17 earned runs). The offense gave Taillon and the bullpen enough support with a level of run scoring that has typically translated to wins. Hoerner's first home run of the season, a two-run shot that just cleared the left-field wall, cut the Cardinals' lead to one in the sixth. The Cubs were 25-3 when scoring at least seven runs in a game before Tuesday. However, the pitching staff has given up 20 home runs in their last six games, tied with the Baltimore Orioles for their most in a six-game span this year and matched the Cubs' record with the 1956 team. Sign up for our Cubs Insider newsletter'I felt like the game was pretty easy for me there for like six weeks or whatever and then now it's really hard again,' Taillon said. 'You just expect that to happen at some point in the season, and it's about punching back and finding a way to fix it and correct it as fast as possible. So, I'm aware, obviously, that the last two haven't been very good, and it needs to be better.' Taillon couldn't hold onto a three-run lead after the Cubs put up five runs in the top of the third inning on Kyle Tucker's two-run single and Seiya Suzuki's three-run home run against St. Louis starter Michael McGreevy. The Cardinals answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame and delivered the decisive runs in the fourth. A Nolan Gorman solo home run and Maysn Winn's two-run double off Taillon gave the Cardinals a 7-5 lead. Then Crow-Armstrong lost track of the outs. Thinking he had ended the inning by catching Alec Burleson's fly ball at the center field wall, it instead turned into a two-base sacrifice fly. Winn was beginning to round third base by the time Crow-Armstrong realized his error and fired the ball back to the infield. Taillon chalked up the miscue as a 'freak thing' by one of best defenders in baseball and wryly noted, 'I'm not too concerned with the eighth run I gave up, I'm concerned with all eight.' 'He takes a lot of pride in his defense, takes a lot of pride in being a great teammate so I'm not too worried about it. I was just more mad at myself for giving up the homers and giving up a lot of hard contact.' Added Hoerner: 'Pete's obviously had an incredible season, but like all of us has had plenty of frustrating moments this year already, and we all handle those things in different ways, but his response has always been onto the next thing and playing the game hard and playing to win. 'If he was a guy that didn't respect the game and didn't play hard and wasn't locked in when he got to the field, then there'd probably be a different conversation. But I think people here really trust him and love having him out there.' Crow-Armstrong had a chance to deliver a big hit in the seventh inning when he stepped to the plate with one out and runners on the corners. Cardinals lefty JoJo Romero got ahead on the Cubs' cleanup hitter using a first-pitch elevated fastball and followed with a slider down and away, though in the zone. Crow-Armstrong attempted to push bunt the pitch for a base hit. Instead, the ball meekly made it halfway to the mound and Romero fielded it cleanly and fired to first base for the easy out. Although Suzuki advanced to second on the play, the seventh became a wasted opportunity — something that happened too often on a night the Cubs went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position with eight left on base despite 13 hits. Dansby Swanson fouled out to right field when Burleson made a nifty catch into the netting to leave Tucker and Suzuki on base, among the four he stranded in scoring position with two outs. 'It's against the left-handed pitcher, and he wants the ball in play, that's what he's thinking,' manager Craig Counsell said of Crow-Armstrong. 'Get the ball in play, and he just made a poor bunt.' The Cubs know they can't let their underwhelming play over the past week spiral into a season-altering funk. Players expressed confidence after Tuesday's loss that they can weather this challenging stretch and turn things around, citing how well they have played most of the year and the inevitable ups and downs within a 162-game season. 'We've got a lot of faith in these guys,' Swanson said, 'and it's just a matter of when, not if.'
USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Shohei Ohtani pitching: Live updates, how to watch Dodgers star vs. Nationals
After he finally made his Los Angeles Dodgers pitching debut, Shohei Ohtani takes the mound once again. The two-way star will make his second pitching start at Dodger Stadium when he faces the Washington Nationals on Sunday June 22. The afternoon start comes six days after Ohtani pitched for the first time since August 2023, when he was on the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani pitched one inning in a highly anticipated moment for the reigning National League MVP. He gave up one run on two hits against the San Diego Padres, but the velocity and movement of his pitches looked to be in peak form. Now, Ohtani will hope to make progress towards becoming a full fledged starter for a Dodgers team hoping its star's arm will be key to getting back to the World Series. How to watch Dodgers vs. Nationals The Nationals and Dodgers finish a three-game series in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon. Watch Dodgers vs. Nationals on Fubo Dodgers vs. Nationals pitching matchup Dodgers lineup Nationals lineup
