Amid road struggles, Cody Bellinger delivers in Yankees' win over Mets to open Subway Series

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on May 15, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger’s left-handed swing is ideal for Yankee Stadium, and he has the early-season production there to match.

But hits away from home have been harder to come by for the Yankees’ left fielder.

Entering Friday night’s Subway Series opener at Citi Field, Bellinger was hitting .188 with two extra-base hits and a .516 OPS on the road, compared to .377 with 16 extra-base hits and a 1.259 OPS in the Bronx.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone doesn’t expect those splits to remain so extreme.

“Do I pay attention to it? He’s gonna be in the lineup every day,” Boone said before the game.

“Look, part of it is [that] he is cut out for our ballpark. One of the reasons we went and got him was we feel like he’s set up for Yankee Stadium. But that said, I would expect these things to balance itself out a little bit with how good of a player Belli is.”

Bellinger took a step toward accomplishing that Friday, delivering a tie-breaking RBI double in the Yankees’ 5-2 win over the Mets.

With the game scoreless and two outs in the third, Bellinger lined a 1-2 curveball from Mets starter Clay Holmes into right field, sending Ben Rice home from second base.

That kicked off a three-run rally by the Yankees, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a two-run single against the right-handed Holmes, who began the day with a sterling 1.86 ERA.

The go-ahead double snapped an 0-for-10 skid by Bellinger, who went 2 for 20 with five walks over the first six games of the Yankees’ ongoing nine-game road trip.

“Even on this trip, I feel like he looks very similar,” Boone said of Bellinger before the game. “I feel like he’s having a lot of good at-bats still. He just hasn’t really gotten rewarded.”

Bellinger finished 1 for 5 on Friday, but he also made his presence felt in left field. In the bottom of the third, Bellinger made a running, jumping catch on a 353-foot fly ball off the bat of rookie Carson Benge to end the inning.

Benge’s drive had an expected batting average of .400, according to MLB’s Statcast.

This is Bellinger’s second season with the Yankees, who acquired the 2017 National League MVP in a 2024 trade with the Chicago Cubs as part of their pivot after Juan Soto’s departure for the Mets.

Soto, who heard boos from the Yankees fans in attendance Friday, hit a solo home run against Cam Schlittler in the seventh inning and finished 1 for 3 with a walk. It was the 250th home run of Soto’s nine-year MLB career.

Coming into Friday, Bellinger had pulled 44.8% of batted balls — his highest rate since 2022 and a couple of ticks higher than last year’s 42.4%. All five of his home runs were to right field at Yankee Stadium, where the short porch benefits left-handed hitters.

Bellinger batted .272 with 29 home runs and an .813 OPS last year, then re-signed in the offseason on a five-year, $162.5 million contract.

The outfielder also had noteworthy splits last year, albeit not as significant as this season’s. He hit .302 with 18 home runs and a .909 OPS at home in 2025, compared to .241 with 11 home runs and a .715 OPS on the road.

“I would expect, year in and year out, that he’d probably be a little better at home,” Boone said, “because he’s cut out for our yard.”