Yankees 11, Cubs 0: The Cody Bellinger game (Oh, wait. That’s not good anymore, is it.)

The Cubs got blown out in the stadium that’s been a house of horrors for them for years.

So one of the things the Cubs really wanted to make sure to do as they entered this three-game series against the Yankees was neutralize Aaron Judge.

That, they did, at least at the plate. Judge went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts (and a couple of walks and a sacrifice fly). It was in the field that Judge really hurt the Cubs, and I’ll get to that.

Unfortunately, they forgot to stop old friend Cody Bellinger. Bellinger had the first three-homer game of his career (and nearly had a fourth, robbed by Kyle Tucker) and the Yankees destroyed the Cubs 11-0 in the opener of this series. I don’t usually use photos of Cubs opponents in recaps, but clearly, Bellinger is the story of this game.

The Cubs had three singles over the first three innings, one in each inning, but could get the runners no further. That turned out to be 60 percent of the offense for the night. But Chris Flexen did hold the Yankees down for two innings.

Maybe they should have moved on from Flexen after that, not that it would have mattered with no offense at all. After a couple of singles in the third, Judge hit his sac fly to make it 1-0 and Bellinger homered for the first time for a 3-0 Yankees lead.

The top of the fourth was when the Cubs had a chance to get back in the game, and it was Judge who told them, “Not on my watch.” Carson Kelly led off that inning with a routine fly to Judge.

Then Pete Crow-Armstrong hit this ball [VIDEO].

That, my friends, should have been PCA’s 26th homer of the year, but Judge stole it.

The next batter was Dansby Swanson [VIDEO].

Judge was once considered a pretty good defender, but that was several years ago. He’s had negative defensive bWAR the last two years. But those… those were really good plays. Maybe the Cubs score a couple runs if Judge doesn’t make those catches and get back in the game.

Caleb Thielbar relieved Flexen in the fifth and allowed a leadoff single. One out later, boom for Bellinger, homer No. 2 of the evening.

Jordan Wicks came in for the sixth and allowed a run on an RBI double by Anthony Volpe to make it 6-0. In the seventh, it could have been 7-0 on this fly ball by Bellinger on which Tucker made a great grab [VIDEO].

That’s another home run robbery at Yankee Stadium. Nice play by Tucker, not that it made any difference in the result of the game. The Yankees scored one off Wicks anyway to make it 7-0 in the seventh, and then with two out in the top of the eighth, Judge flashed some glove again [VIDEO].

There were two Cubs on base at that time; if Judge doesn’t make that catch both of them score and Tucker probably winds up on third. Big tip o’ the cap to Judge for his three great defensive plays in this game.

Wicks got lit up in the eighth for three more, including Bellinger’s third of the game after a Judge walk. About those homers by Bellinger, from BCB’s JohnW53:

This was Bellinger’s first career three-homer game. Twenty-seven different Cubs have had a total of 42 such games. Bellinger is the 29th different Yankee. They have done it 39 times.

And, this was Bellinger’s first multi-homer game for the Yankees in his 86th game for the team.

He had two such games among his 260 games as a Cub — and 15 in his 745 games as a Dodger.

Among those who have had three-homer games for the Yankees is Bobby Murcer… twice! (1970 and 1973.) It’s the first three-homer game against the Cubs since Josh Rojas, then of the Diamondbacks, did it May 20, 2022 at Wrigley Field.

Two last Bellinger notes:

Last note on this blowout loss from John:

This was the Cubs’ worst loss of the year. They had lost by nine runs, 14-5, to the Giants in 11 innings, and by eight, 14-6, to Mariners. Both were at home.

Their worst previous loss on the road was by seven runs, twice: on March 28 at Arizona and on Tuesday at Minnesota, both by 8-1.

The Cubs’ last shutout loss by double digits was by 17-0 at Boston on April 27 of last year. This was their 229th game since then.

The one before that was by 10-0 at home against the Brewers on Aug. 11, 2021 — 626 games ago!

The Cubs have lost once to the Yankees by a larger margin: 18-4 at New York on June 12, 2022.

Their worst previous shutout loss to the Yanks was by 8-0, the previous day.

Let’s look at it this way. The Cubs were forced into a bullpen game by the injury to Jameson Taillon. With a tough left-hander, Carlos Rodón, starting against them, this was going to be a difficult game anyway. It doesn’t help things that the Brewers beat the Nationals Friday evening and now trail the Cubs by just one game in the NL Central.

It would not surprise me to see Wicks optioned back to Triple-A Iowa before Saturday’s game and the Cubs bring an extra arm up for the two remaining games before the All-Star break. Wicks won’t throw again before the break and it would seem to me that he still needs some work in Triple-A. Tom Cosgrove or Luke Little might be possibilities to join the bullpen for the weekend.

Saturday’s matchup against left-hander Max Fried will also be a difficult one for the Cubs, but they also have a good lefty going for them in Matthew Boyd. I would expect Saturday’s game to be much lower-scoring and closer. Game time is 12:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network. The BCB game preview will post at 10 a.m. CT.