NEW YORK (AP) — Cody Bellinger hit three two-run homers against his former team and was robbed of a fourth, Aaron Judge made a trio of outstanding catches and the New York Yankees routed the Chicago Cubs 11-0 on Friday night for their fifth straight victory following a a six-game losing streak.
Carlos Rodón (10-6), who became a three-time All-Star when he was added to the AL roster before the game, allowed four hits in eight innings with eight strikeouts and one walk.
Bellinger, who played for the Cubs in 2023 and ’24, had his first three-homer game and tied his career high with six RBIs.
He homered in a three-run third off Chris Flexen (5-1) and in the fifth against Caleb Thielbar for this 18th multi-homer game.
Bellinger nearly went deep in the seventh but was robbed by Kyle Tucker on a drive above the right-field wall. He homered in the eighth off Jordan Wicks, just above the glove of leaping center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.
New York had three three-homer games in a season for the first time. Judge did it on March 29 against Milwaukee and rookie Jasson Domínguez on May 9 at the Athletics.
Key moments
The 6-foot-7 Judge leaped at the right-field wall to catch a 327-foot, fourth-inning drive by Crow-Armstrong, denying what would have been Crow-Armstrong’s 26th home run. Judge then rushed in and dove for a backhand grab on Dansby Swanson’s sinking liner for the third out of the inning. With runners at the corners and two outs in the eighth, Judge denied Tucker on a drive in the right-field corner.
Key stats
New York has scored five or more runs in 10 straight games for the first time since July 6-18, 2012.
Up Next
Yankees LHP Max Fried (11-2, 2.27) and Cubs LHP Matt Boyd (9-3, 2.52) start Saturday.
Oftentimes, Aaron Judge's defense takes a backseat to his elite offense, but on Friday night against the Cubs, it was a different story.
In what would eventually become an 11-0 laugher in the Yankees' favor, it could have been a very different story if Judge hadn't put on the defensive performance that he did.
With the Yankees up 3-0 in the fourth inning, the Cubs' young superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong, took Carlos Rodon deep into right field. Judge drifted back, got to the wall and timed his jump perfectly to bring the would-be home run back.
Judge then robbed Dansby Swanson of a single with a headfirst slide coming at him, but probably the best play of the night came in the eighth. With two outs and runners at the corners, Kyle Tucker lofted a Rodon pitch into shallow right field that was going away from Judge. The reigning AL MVP caught up to it and made another headfirst slide to end the inning and preserve the shutout.
If PCA got that ball over the wall in the fourth, the score is 3-1 and who knows how the rest of the game would have played out. And if Judge doesn't make that catch in the eighth, Rodon's night isn't as sharp as it would become.
The Yankees southpaw, who was named to the All-Star game earlier in the day, credited Judge's three catches and Cody Bellinger's three home runs for helping him get through eight innings, the most he's had as a member of the Yankees.
"That was a heck of a play. That was probably my favorite, obviously, saving some runs from me," Rodon said of Judge's eighth-inning catch. "He was shading the gap on Tucker, kind of more right-center than right. He had to cover a lot of ground for a big guy like that and lays out for me and makes that play. It was big. It was big."
"An elite right fielder," manager Aaron Boone said after the game. "He's just an outstanding athlete. Fundamentally, so sound out there. The throwing arm, the accuracy with that. And just, obviously, some really great plays tonight, and in an exclamation point on Carlos' night with a dive down the line there with two outs and two runners on. Just a big time defensive night for Judgey."
In that eighth inning, Judge said he lost a liner from Nico Hoerner in the lights, the batter before Tucker. That allowed the Cubs to get runners at the corners and forced Boone to talk to Rodon. Judge thought Rodon was going to get pulled before finishing the inning, but once the Yankees skipper let his starter stay in, Judge wanted to do everything to get that final out.
"[I wanted to make that play] big time, especially losing in the lights the one earlier by Nico and I was pretty upset about that.," Judge expI thought they were gonna pull him, but when that last one came out, I gotta run through this wall, I gotta make this play for [Rodon]. Pitched a hell of a game. Really set the tone for us going into this, especially a big series against the Cubs. Heck of a performance by him."
"He's just a great player. He takes a ton of pride in his defense," Boone said. "I think understanding the situation there, too. Like, understanding what kind of night Carlos is having there to finish it off was pretty sweet."
The Yankees put up 11 runs on 15 hits on Friday. Judge went 0-for-2 with two walks and a sac fly, being the only starter to not pick up a hit against the Cubs.
That's alright. Although Judge didn't impact the game too much at the plate, his defense more than made up for it and that's why his teammates see him as the complete player that he is.
"Knew he was a good outfielder," Bellinger said of Judge. "Just the complete baseball player he is, runs the bases hard, has a cannon of an arm, and ultimately has really good reads. I mean, four or five really tremendous catches today. It's just fun to play with because he's pretty unbelievable."
Cody Bellinger hit three home runs -- nearly four -- and Carlos Rodon pitched a gem as the Yankees beat up on the Cubs, 11-0, on Friday night.
It's the 40th time in franchise history a Yankee has had a three-home run game. It's the first of Bellinger's career.
The Yankees picked up 15 hits with every Yankees starter having at least one hit, except for Aaron Judge -- but he made up for it in other ways. And five starters (Bellinger, Jasson Dominguez, Paul Goldschmidt, Oswald Peraza, Ben Rice) had multi-hit games.
Here are the takeaways...
- It took the Yankees until the eighth inning on Thursday to get their first hit -- it wouldn't take that long on Friday, as they scratched out their first hit with a leadoff infield single by Oswald Peraza in the third. Jasson Dominguez, starting in the leadoff spot for the fourth straight game, followed with a single of his own to give the Yankees runners on the corners with no outs for Aaron Judge. The frontrunner for AL MVP lofted a sac fly to put up the game's first run.
Bellinger, facing the Cubs for the first time since being traded, dropped the hammer on a Chris Flexen curveball and sent it 371 feet just over the right-center field wall. The longball extended his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games. But the first-year Yankee wasn't done; he would hit another two-run blast in the fifth, taking lefty Caleb Thielbar nearly to the second deck in right field to put the Yankees up 5-0.
It's his 18th career multi-homer game. The first since September 2023, when he was with the Cubs.
Bellinger, who has never had a three-home game before, nearly achieved that feat in the seventh, lining a deep drive to right field, but Kyle Tucker made an incredible leaping grab at the wall to rob the slugger. But Bellinger would get that one back in the eighth, taking Jordan Wicks deep just over the wall in right-center for his 16th homer of the season.
- Anthony Volpe, who has had a tough season, assisted Judge in Thursday's win with an incredible slide at home to complete the comeback. And the Yankee Stadium fans were appreciative, giving the shortstop a nice ovation during roll-call and every time he came to bat. And Volpe rewarded the fans with an RBI double in the sixth, bringing the more than 46,000 in attendance to their feet.
- The day he was named to the All-Star Game, Carlos Rodon was dealing on Friday night. After scattering three singles in the first three innings, Rodon retired 15 straight Cubs and was through seven innings on just 84 pitches. That streak ended with a one-out walk in the eighth, but the southpaw bounced back, getting a force out, however, a single from Nico Hoerner put runners on the corners with two outs.
Manager Aaron Boone came out but left Rodon out there to take on Tucker. Rodon and Tucker battled to a 3-2 count, but the Cubs slugger lofted the ball toward the right field line, but Judge, again, slid and made the impressive catch to end the inning.
Rodon threw 109 pitches (70 strikes) in eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out eight batters. It's the longest outing of Rodon's Yankees career.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, who received the largest ovation for a non-Yankee, had Yankee Stadium on its feet in his second at-bat in the fourth. He launched a long flyball to right field. But Judge got to the wall and timed his jump perfectly to rob the young outfielder of a home run.
Judge then robbed Dansby Swanson of a single by diving headfirst for the catch.
PCA nearly had another hit in the seventh when he hit a soft tapper to first base and almost outran Rodon as they raced to the bag. After a replay review, the call on the field, of out, was confirmed.
Game MVP: Cody Bellinger
Could pick Bellinger, Rodon or Judge but we'll go with the guy who hit three bombs, and was a few inches short of four.
SAN DIEGO – If the Phillies were going to get to the Padres Friday night at Petco Park, they had best planned to do it early. Padres starter Ryan Bergert hadn’t gone into the sixth inning yet this season and hadn’t started a game since June 24. Add to that the fact that before the game it was announced Padres reliever Adrian Morejon had been added to the All-Star roster to replace the Phillies Zack Wheeler.
What does that mean?
It means the Padres became the first team to have three relievers in an All-Star game. It means the back end of their bullpen is pretty darn good. It means it best behooves you to score on them as early as possible. The Phillies didn’t, however, in what turned into a 4-2 loss. They have now lost three of four on this six-game road trip and will have Wheeler on the mound for them Saturday.
If you play sloppy baseball in the field, as the Phillies did in the second inning, that makes the task even harder.
Trailing by a run in the seventh, the Phillies saw those three All-Stars in Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and closer Robert Suarez.
Ranger Suarez pitched strong once again, with 6.2 innings of work on six hits and allowed three runs. Only one of his runs was earned and it was his own doing. Phillies nemesis Xander Bogaerts began the second with a single to shallow left. Jackson Merrill then laid a beautiful bunt down the first base line which Suarez fielded but threw too much into the runner and the ball eluded first baseman Bryce Harper, allowing Bogaerts to go to third. A Jose Iglesias double, a run-scoring groundout by Elias Diaz and a single by Fernando Tatis, Jr. single gave the Padres a 3-1 lead. Kyle Schwarber tied it in the top of the third with his 30th home run of the season.
After the game, Ranger Suarez admitted that he was contacted in San Francisco by MLB about being an All-Star. He declined, much for the same reasons as Wheeler. The league announced that Milwaukee Brewers rookie, Jacob Misiorowski, was named an All-Star replacement after just five starts,.
“In the end you think that the league is going to do whatever they want to do with that,” said Suarez. “You can’t control. I did receive a call but we decided to remain at home resting and decided against going there. But I’m happy that he (Misiorowski) made it. He’s a rookie and only made a few starts. I’m excited for him.
“Obviously it’s what you want, you want to go to the All-Star game. But I’d rather have some rest right now. I think it’s what’s best for us, for the team and it’s a long second half that we’re going to have. So I want to remain as healthy and as fresh as I can.”
Morejon, Adam and Robert Suarez epitomize the catch phrase of good morning, good afternoon and good night, though the Phillies made things dicey in the eighth, loading the bases off Adam with a Trea Turner walk and singles by Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm. Adam coaxed Nick Castellanos into a dribbler in front of home that Adam scooped to catcher Elias Diaz for a force. Max Kepler ended the threat with a flyout to center.
A home run by Manny Machado off Max Lazar accounted for the game’s final score.
“I thought Nick battled in his at-bat. He laid off some tough pitches,” said Rob Thomson. “Just unfortunately hit the ball off the end of the bat and the pitcher made a nice play. You know (the back of the bullpen) is coming. But you got to have runners on base, too, to do some things. We hit a couple of balls out of the ballpark, which is good. We put some pitches on the starter (Bergert) which is good. They’ve used quite a bit of their bullpen lately. I don’t know what they’re going to do tomorrow.”
After taking a 1-0 lead in the second on a dead-center home run by Nick Castellanos, the Phillies watched the Padres have their big inning before Schwarber’s bomb cut the lead to one.
It takes more than that against that Padres bullpen but the Phillies just didn’t have it. After scoring 13 runs Wednesday against the Giants, the thought was things were on the cusp of getting better offensively. Not so much Friday as they only had three other hits besides the two solo home runs.
Schwarber becomes just the second Phillies player to have 30 home runs by the All-Star break. He joins some pretty good company in Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.
“I feel like if we keep doing those things and having those at-bats we’re going to have a lot more success to follow,” said Schwarber, speaking of some good but unrewarded at-bats the Phillies have had. “We’re not taking (good starting pitching) for granted. Those guys in our rotation are doing such a great job throughout the course of this year so far and they’re gonna keep doing great.
“I feel like making different adjustments, not feel like I’m waiting around too long on things and feeling like not being nit-picky and being aware and making sure that checking your at-bats, checking your swings, checking what you’re feeling (has helped). And just competing and not overthinking during the game. It’s great company. Schmitty is one of the best to ever do it. A lot of the cool things that happen through the course of your career will be fun to look back on when it’s said and done with.”
“Is that right,” Thomson asked when told of Schwarber joining Schmidt in that elite home run company. “He’s had a great first half. He’s a great hitter. He’s changed his approach. He’s trying to stay close, he’s not thinking pull as much. He’s staying on the ball so that gives him a chance against left-handed pitchers.”
In what seems to be happening far too often of late, the starting pitching was outstanding but the offense just couldn’t get enough to make it stand.
“It’s just one of those things we’re going through,” Thomson said. “We scored 13 the other day, come back and we had a couple of chances, but not a whole lot. Once they went to the bullpen it was pretty tough.”
When word spread around the locker room that Misiorowski was named, there were quite a few players who were disgusted that their teammates in Christopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez were left out.
Perhaps that is a little ambition the team may need to start hitting the ball regularly. We shall see.
The Knicks got shellacked in their 2025 Las Vegas Summer League debut, falling 104-86 to the Detroit Pistons.
It was a forgettable offensive performance from the franchise’s prospects that left little to write home about.
Here are some takeaways...
- New York's 2024 first-round pick Pacome Dadiet led the way with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, making hay attacking closeouts and leaking out in transition. Marjon Beauchamp scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from two and 0-for-4 shooting from three. Kevin McCullar Jr. finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists on 5-of-14 shooting, while getting a large portion of the backcourt creation reps.
- Tyler Kolek had 10 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five turnovers on 4-of-11 shooting from the field. New York went pretty deep into their bench, with 2025 second-round pick Mohamed Diawara highlighted, playing 17 minutes and finishing with seven points and seven rebounds.
- Ron Holland II led Detroit with 28 points and 11 rebounds -- he wreaked havoc defensively early and turned it up from deep later in the contest. Daniss Jenkins added 18 points on three threes while Tolu Smith finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
- The Pistons got off to a quick 16-4 start, making five of their first six field goals thanks to some sloppy Knicks turnovers. Holland made an early impact with seven points and two steals in the opening period.
McCullar Jr. made some nice plays to get the offense going after earlier miscues, long tossing off a steal to get Kolek an easy lay-up and driving hard for a reverse layup. The highlight of the quarter for New York was Diawara’s bullet to Luka Scuka inside for a bucket, though they ultimately trailed 21-15 going into the second.
- Detroit opened the period on another run to go back up double digits behind another stalled Knicks offense. Dadiet got into the action with a three and emphatic revenge block early in the quarter.
Former Knick draft pick Trevor Keels hit a three to help the Pistons to a 6-of-14 three-point shooting half compared to a meek 1-of-9 outing from the Knicks. The team had 12 turnovers and shot 35.1 percent from the field in the opening half en route to a 46-32 halftime deficit.
- The Knicks found their groove to open the second half, going on a 9-3 run out of the gates behind a Dadiet walk-in middie and driving dunk in transition. Detroit quickly responded at the hands of Holland, showing off his newly restructured jumper with a couple threes including a tough one off the dribble in the corner.
New York missed another eight consecutive threes and fell behind by as much as 21, ultimately going into the final frame down 74-56 thanks to a full-court buzzer beating heave from Diawara.
- The fourth quarter was more of the same as the Pistons built on their lead behind threes and stifling defense. Dadiet was able to sneak a few more transition buckets in before New York was eventually put away.
Pete Crow-Armstrong had no idea that the Mets once attempted to get him back -- and for Pete Alonso, no less.
“I did not know that,” Crow-Armstrong said on Friday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, chuckling at the revelation. “That’s awesome.”
It also happens to be true. Although it was never close -- or even close to close -- to becoming a reality, the Pete-for-Pete discussion is a fun one to chat about. The magnitude of both players, who will be National League teammates at next week’s All-Star Game, is what makes it so.
Let’s first rewind to 2020. That year the Mets made Crow-Armstrong their first-round pick (19th overall). The following May he underwent shoulder surgery, ending his first season in pro ball.
Meanwhile, the Mets were under new ownership, had just acquired and then extended a franchise cornerstone in Francisco Lindor, and were in contention at the trade deadline. The front office, wanting to convey to fans and players alike that they believed in the team, traded Crow-Armstrong to the Chicago Cubs for Javier Baez.
Even in retrospect, it’s easy to understand the impulse. Baez played well for the Mets, posting an .899 OPS in 47 games. But he and Lindor also flashed an infamous thumbs down sign at fans, and he left as a free agent for Detroit. The Mets fell out of contention in August.
Over the next few years, Crow-Armstrong solidified his status as a top prospect. He debuted with the Cubs in 2023, and has broken out this season as a superstar.
It was in 2023 that the Mets and Cubs had their brief chat about him. That was the trade deadline in which then-GM Billy Eppler executed an impressive selloff, aided by Steve Cohen’s willingness to absorb salary as a way to turn veterans into prospects.
Eppler and his front office were serious about trading Max Scherzer (to Texas for Luisangel Acuña), Justin Verlander (to Houston for Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford), along with David Robertson and Tommy Pham for intriguing lower-level prospects.
The Mets were not particularly serious about trading Alonso, who would become a free agent after the following season. But they owed it to themselves to answer calls about him, just to see what other clubs would offer.
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) doubles during the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citi Field / Vincent Carchietta - Imagn Images
That openness led to conversations with several clubs about Alonso. The Milwaukee Brewers called, but did not get close to a deal.
During this time, the Mets front office hatched a brief, outside-the-box idea. What about calling the Cubs to feel them out about Pete for Pete? The Cubs were known to have liked Alonso, and rumored to be weighing a pursuit of him.
According to league sources with direct knowledge of the situation, the call was made. The conversation was brief. The answer was no.
It’s no knock on Alonso that the Cubs passed. It was about the specific concept. Good luck finding any team willing to trade a rookie centerfielder with star potential for less than two seasons of a slugging first baseman.
Flash forward to today. Alonso re-signed with the Mets for another year, chasing Darryl Strawberry’s franchise home run record. Crow-Armstrong is the face of the new Cubs. After a few lean years in Detroit, Baez will also be at the All-Star Game.
The only dangling thread lingers in center field for the Mets. The team is still looking to fill that position.
But maybe everything worked out the way it needed to?
“It was not a disappointment at all,” Crow-Armstrong said about the trade from the Mets to the Cubs. “I was looking for anything good to happen. I was still relatively early on in the rehab process when I got traded. The change of scenery ended up being important.”
Among the handful of new names that fans of the Detroit Red Wings could be seeing a lot of in the coming season is defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, who was signed to a one-year contract by GM Steve Yzerman.
Bernard-Docker played for both the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres last season, and already has 144 games of NHL experience under his belt. And he's already looking forward to adding to his total with the Red Wings.
"There's a lot of potential there, and it's a team on the right trajectory," he said. "I'm super excited to go in there and show what I got and hopefully be a contributor."
Bernard-Docker drew parallels between the young, rising core of players he suited up alongside with in Ottawa and Buffalo as part of the reason behind his excitement.
"In a way it's a similar group to where I was in Ottawa, with a real good young core, Buffalo had a real good core," he said. "They're (Detroit) on that edge of breaking out. There's a lot of real good players on the team.
Bernard-Docker will be competing for a roster spot in Training Camp with Justin Holl and Albert Johansson, the latter of which emerged as a reliable option by playing in 61 games in his rookie season.
An area of play for the Red Wings that he can help improve is the penalty killing, which was in danger of being the lowest ranked in NHL history at one point in late 2024 and ultimately finished 32nd overall at just 70.1 percent.
"That's one area where I was really looking to develop and show kind of how I played in the minors and, maybe I haven't showed as much as I'd like to in the NHL yet," Bernard-Docker said. "It's an area that I really think is a strong part of my game. I'm willing to block shots and I'm pretty good on my stick, areas that I'd really like to show."
Selected by the Senators in the 2018 NHL Draft with the 26th overall pick, Bernard-Docker enjoyed a breakout season in 2023-24, appearing in 72 games and scoring four goals with 10 assists. But a high-ankle sprain earlier this year in January derailed his season, causing him to miss several weeks.
He was then traded to the Sabres along with Josh Norris in the deal that brought Dylan Cozens to the Senators on March 7. In the 15 games he played in a Buffalo uniform, he scored a goal while adding three assists.
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It’s been a long road back for Mets starter Sean Manaea.
Manaea was supposed to headline this retooled rotation following a breakout 2024 campaign, but he was quickly forced to the injured list after suffering an oblique strain during his ramp up in spring training.
The initial expectation was that he’d be able to return to the club in mid-to-late April, but that timeline continued to be pushed further and further back as he endured some minor setbacks along the way.
The first one came in mid-March when he first resumed throwing, and then he was recently forced to receive a cortisone injection after a loose body was discovered in his left elbow following a rehab start.
Manaea was able to work his way through his final two rehab outings without experiencing any further discomfort, though, and now he’s officially set to make his season debut this weekend in Kansas City.
He’ll piggyback Clay Holmes during Sunday afternoon’s first-half finale.
“Talking to both they said whatever you guys want to do,” Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re just trying to keep things simple for Clay and then we’ll give Sean the proper time to make sure he's ready before we put him in.”
Manaea allowed 15 runs over his six rehab appearances, but he did show some positives.
Easily his most encouraging showing came prior to his latest setback, when he gave up just one of those runs on a pair of hits while striking out seven over 5.1 stellar innings of work while with Triple-A Syracuse.
He was a little rusty his next two times out, but still feels ready to return to a Mets rotation that desperately needs a spark heading into the second-half.
“It feels good,” Manaea said. “It sucks to be on the IL, you want to be out there helping this team win and it’s frustrating when you can’t do that -- everyone has been doing an incredible job, so it feels good to be back.”
LAS VEGAS- The first three Summer League games for Kasparas Jakučionis came in the California Classic, and it couldn’t have gone much worse for him. He finished with a total of 12 points and 12 turnovers while shooting 1-of-15 from the floor during his three appearances in San Francisco.
That poor play didn’t carry over to Vegas.
He scored 14 points in the first quarter alone and had 19 at halftime, which included four three-pointers. He scored in a variety of ways, including some strong finishes at the basket, catch-and-shoot threes and a pair of triples off the dribble.
"I think I was a little bit more aggressive on the offensive end,” Jakučionis said. “You know, it's a process and it's usually a long process. And it takes some time just getting to know everybody, getting to know yourself during these games. And just try to learn and try to do the best I can."
Jakučionis, who was projected to be a lottery pick ahead of the draft, fell to the Heat with the 20th overall selection last month. Miami hasn’t made many moves this offseason, but they did trade for Norman Powell, which means that Jakučionis will likely join Davion Mitchell in filling out the backcourt minutes off the bench during his rookie season.
Jakučionis’ hot start didn’t stretch into the second half, but he did hit a late corner three that brought Miami within three points. He also set up multiple clean looks from deep for his teammates late in the game that would’ve given them a chance to win. They ended up losing 105-98 to the Hawks, and he finished with 24 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and five three-pointers. While Jakučionis was much improved, he acknowledged that there is still plenty of room for him to grow.
"Basketball is a lot more than just shooting,” Jakučionis said. “It felt good, yeah, but you know, eventually we still lost, I didn't do a great job on the other side, like, rebounding, getting on transition defense. So, yeah, but, definitely feels better with a good shot."
Summer League isn’t a reliable indicator of how successful a player will be in the NBA, but it was encouraging to see Jakučionis respond to a poor three-game stretch with a big-time performance on Friday. Seeing improvement over the course of Summer League is a great sign for a young player, and Jakučionis said that he will “watch more and more film” to help him adjust to the pace of play in the NBA.
SAN FRANCISCO — A few minutes before the first pitch Friday night, Willy Adames sprinted to the edge of the outfield grass and put his hands on his hips. A sellout crowd was settling in and the “Beat L.A.” chants had already started. Outside, thousands still waited in long lines, not far from parking lots that were charging $100 to pass through their gates.
It wasn’t hard to look around and see signals that the biggest game of the year was about to start, but Adames had something to handle first. He stared at counterpart Mookie Betts, who was getting his arm loose in shallow right field. Finally, Betts realized Adames was waiting for him and jogged toward second base. The two shortstops hugged and chatted briefly.
That has been a daily routine for Adames, who is seemingly as connected and conversational as any player in the league. He was like that throughout April, when his OPS started with a five. He had the same personality in May, when at times it looked like progress was being made but his batting average ultimately dropped back near .200 by the end of the month.
In June, as things started to turn, Adames was the same person every day. There were friends to chat with before games and handshakes to give. During games, there were helmets that needed to be lifted when teammates went deep. After wins, the Powerade jug needed to be emptied on someone’s jersey.
The consistency has been remarkable, and finally, Adames is being rewarded for it. He homered early in Friday’s 8-7 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and then added a big two-run triple. By the time Adames joined Mike Yastrzemski for their post-game leap, his OPS was a season-high .694.
That’s far from where he wants to be, but also far from where he was earlier this year. He finally feels right at the plate, and he’s being rewarded for keeping the faith, positivity and energy through some serious lows.
“Obviously when you’re not performing well it’s tough to keep yourself together, but that’s the one thing I can control,” he said Friday night. “I told Buster [Posey], that’s the only thing that’s never going to change: My attitude and my work ethic and my willingness to try to be better. My energy is going to be the same every day, no matter if I’m doing good or bad.
“In the beginning when we were winning a lot of games, that helped. And then when we were struggling, it was tough for me to keep myself together because we weren’t winning and I had to step up and do my thing. We have a really good group in here that was like, ‘You’re going to be all right, you’re going to be all right.’ Everybody had my back and I feel like that’s what makes teams great.”
Two weeks ago, the Giants couldn’t even associate themselves with “good.” But with the win Friday, they crept within four of the Dodgers — who have lost seven straight — in the National League West. The division looked long gone after their first two days in Arizona, but their recent run and this shocking Dodgers skid have brought it back into play.
The last time the Giants seriously chased the NL West title, the two teams ended up facing off in the playoffs. On Friday, the wild back-and-forth affair gave off October energy.
“It was amazing,” Adames said. “I’m not going to lie, I felt like we had too many Dodgers fans here. Maybe tomorrow we’ll get more San Francisco fans, but the energy was intense. I loved it. It felt like a playoff game, to be honest.”
The stars who come through in October are the ones who aren’t bothered by the moment. The Giants always have felt confident that Adames is in that mold, but the long-term commitment got off to an ugly start. There was nothing to do but be patient, and over the last month, Adames has looked like his old self.
He is hitting .304 with a .952 OPS since June 10, and the homer Friday was his third of July and seventh in his last 29 games. It went to right-center, surprising even Adames with how well it carried. With the triple, which was part of a five-run fifth, he got to 22 RBI over his last 29 games.
“A few weeks ago I started feeling better at the plate, taking better at-bats and putting myself in hitter’s counts and taking advantage of that,” he said. “I feel like since then I’ve been feeling really good at the plate and trying to execute on my plan. I think that’s the most important thing when we go to the plate, is just trusting the plan that you have and staying with it and giving it a shot.”
The offensive outburst was needed, because Logan Webb’s night shockingly fell apart in the sixth. He gave up four runs and was charged with a season-high six earned overall, but for once, the lineup rewarded him.
"He deserved that we have his back."
Willy Adames reacts to the Giants' offense giving Logan Webb strong run support tonight 🫡 pic.twitter.com/xJS5XHIQD7
The big early lead was whittled away, but Camilo Doval got a double play with two on and one out in the ninth, clinching a win on the first night of the biggest series of the year thus far. It was the 22nd one-run win of the year for the Giants, who seem to be fully comfortable with intensity.
Nobody exemplifies that more than their shortstop, and that’s been the case all year, in good times and bad. The smile comes easily for Adames, but it’s a bit easier to let it linger when you’re the one contributing to the wins.
“Willy has been great,” Webb said. “He’s one of the most positive guys in the clubhouse all the time. We brought him in for a reason, and I know he’s excited to get it going. It’s fun for us to watch.”
Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
The start of Friday's series opener between the Mets and Royals in Kansas City has been delayed due to inclement weather.
First pitch was originally scheduled for 8:10 p.m. and a new start time has yet to be announced.
When the action does get underway, New York will be looking to bounce back after being swept by the Baltimore Orioles in a doubleheader on Thursday.
Kodai Senga takes the mound for the Mets, making his return from the injured list.
The right-hander was a bit shaky during his lone rehab appearance, but he had been pitching spectacularly prior to suffering the hamstring injury, posting a 1.47 ERA across 13 outings.
He'll be opposed by former Met Michael Wacha, who has pitched to a 3.83 ERA on the season.
Kansas City's pitching staff has been tremendous on the year, but Wacha has dropped his last three outings, allowing a total of 12 runs over that span.
