NEW YORK — For a split second, with the ball in the air and the game on the line, Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt had no idea what was going to happen.
The right-hander was sitting in the training room in the Yankees’ clubhouse when Royals outfielder MJ Melendez hooked a line drive toward the right-field corner with two outs in the ninth inning on Wednesday night. The tying run was on second base for Kansas City and reliever Fernando Cruz was on the brink of a six-out save.
All Schmidt saw was Cody Bellinger bolting to his left as he watched from a feed of the “high home” camera.
A beat passed and then Schmidt felt the ceiling shake.
“We knew that something good happened,” Schmidt said with a smile.
Bellinger had made an outstanding catch, diving to his backhand side to snag the 100.9-mph line drive and rob Melendez. Instead of what would’ve been a game-tying double for the Royals, Bellinger’s heroic grab was the final play of a 4-3 win.
“There’s a reason why he’s got gold on his glove,” Aaron Judge said of Bellinger, who won a Gold Glove in 2019 (his MVP season) with the Dodgers. “Very few people make that catch, especially in a big moment like that, game on the line, runner on second base. Lay out there and extend it, do it for the team. That was pretty impressive.”
Judge’s solo home run in the seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie, the difference in the win for the Yankees, a victory that closed out a three-game sweep of Kansas City.
Bellinger said he had a feeling the ball would be coming his way in that spot, anticipating it with the Cruz-Melendez matchup unfolding in front of him. Off the bat, however, Bellinger’s first step was to his right. He went 8.2 feet in the wrong direction, according to Statcast. It was his ability to make up for it and keep his balance as he stumbled forward that made the game-saving catch possible.
“Had a little awkward second step there and my head was bobbing a little too much,” Bellinger said, “but I had a good beat on it and I saw the way the ball was going.”
After he made the grab, Bellinger stayed on the ground for a moment, his arms held straight up in the air. He then sat up with his legs sprawled out in front of him, lifting his glove high above his head.
“When I saw that thing stick in the glove, I was pretty fired up,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
“Very thankful that he made the play,” Schmidt added. “Big game, obviously, for Belli with the RBI.”
Earlier in the game, Bellinger — who entered play on Wednesday with two hits over his last 20 at-bats — grounded a run-scoring single down the right-field line. He’ll enter play on Thursday with a .185 batting average. His .538 OPS is the lowest of any regular in the Yankees’ lineup.
Bellinger was out on the field at Yankee Stadium more than four hours before first pitch on Wednesday working with hitting coach James Rowson. The results haven’t been there consistently through these first six series of the season, but Bellinger feels good about his process and the state of his swing.
“Honestly, I feel good,” the outfielder said. “I think I’m putting in the right work and understanding my process and continuing to trust the process. Ultimately, if you’re doing everything right, preparing right, good things are gonna happen.”
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Max Goodman may be reached at mgoodman@njadvancemedia.com.
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