Cubs' offense frustrated in Bronx despite lineup shakeup

NEW YORK -- The Cubs will soon send a pair of high-profile outfielders to Atlanta for the All-Star Game, with a third -- Seiya Suzuki -- deserving of a nod, too. But on Friday night in the Bronx, the game belonged to the one who got away.

Cody Bellinger -- facing the Cubs for the first time since they traded him in December -- launched three home runs. Chicago never mustered an answer, held to just five hits in an 11-0 loss to begin an anticipated three-game series with the Yankees.

“Disappointing loss,” said starting pitcher Chris Flexen, whose hanging curveball turned into Bellinger’s first home run in the third inning.

Bellinger then tagged left-hander Caleb Thielbar for a two-run shot in the fifth inning, and later hammered another two-run homer off southpaw Jordan Wicks in the eighth. Kyle Tucker’s leaping grab in the seventh inning prevented Bellinger from a four-homer game.

Still, Bellinger made plenty of history with just three long balls: He is the first player in MLB history to hit three home runs in his first game against a former team.

“He did his job tonight,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We didn’t make great pitches to him. If you don’t make good pitches to good hitters, they’ll hurt you.”

Bellinger greeted Cubs players and coaches early on Friday afternoon while they took batting practice. He said later that he enjoyed sharing “a bunch of good memories” from his two-year stint on the North Side.

“No revenge,” Bellinger said. “Ultimately, it was fun to be out there.”

For Bellinger, yes, but not for the Cubs. Their high-powered offense entered the day averaging a league-best 5.41 runs per game. By the end of it, they suffered their sixth shutout loss of the season. They’ve been held to two runs or fewer in three of the last four games, sandwiched between Thursday’s eight-run outburst in Minnesota.

Left-hander Carlos Rodón, named an All-Star replacement for teammate Max Fried on Thursday night, completed eight scoreless innings on 109 pitches.

“Maybe his Achilles’ heel has been being able to drive up his pitch count,” Counsell said. “And we weren’t able to do that tonight.”

At one point, following a leadoff single by Jon Berti in the third inning, Rodón retired 16 Cubs hitters in a row.

Even when things appeared promising, they took a turn. Chicago left a runner on base in each of the first three innings. By the end of it, Aaron Judge had taken away three base hits, punctuated by a leaping grab in right field that robbed Pete Crow-Armstrong of a home run in the fourth inning.

It was just that kind of night.

Beforehand, Counsell changed up the lineup, giving veteran Ian Happ a “mental break.” Happ, who has hit leadoff in 84 of the Cubs’ 94 games, is just 2-for-32 in July.

Nico Hoerner, hitting above the fifth spot in the order for the first time this season, went 1-for-4 as the leadoff hitter.

“It’s definitely not as bad as maybe the numbers look,” Counsell said of Happ’s stretch. “It’s not a lot of strikeouts and swing and miss. He’s hitting a bunch of balls hard foul. And so it’s just one of those things that you go through, and as you’re going through it, it’s not fun for the player and you want to do good for the team.”

While the Cubs try to get Happ back on track, the rest of their offense was unable to capitalize off any momentum from Thursday -- when five players recorded a multi-hit game. On Friday, they had just five hits, with Vidal Brujan’s pinch-hit double in the ninth inning accounting for the only extra-base hit.

Chicago entered the day with a plus-124 run differential, the best mark in the Majors. The 11-run defeat is their largest loss of the season, and it’s their largest loss in a shutout since a 17-0 defeat to the Red Sox on April 27, 2024.

The Cubs are confident in their ability to turn the page quickly, with All-Star Matthew Boyd climbing the hill on Saturday.

“It’s just believing in ourselves, in what we’re capable of,” Flexen said. “It’s one of those nights where nothing went our way. They got the better of us tonight. Now we have a chance, in the next two, to try and win the series.”