The Chicago Cubs signed Matthew Boyd this offseason for two years and $29 million. He has since pitched like one of the best pitchers on the planet.

The Official Site of Major League Baseball

It feels long ago that Cody Bellinger was a key part of this Chicago Cubs lineup.Signed ahead of the 2023 season to a prove it deal, the slugger won the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award by slashing .307/.356/.525 with 26 homers and 97 RBI that earned him his first MVP votes since he was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 2019.That performance caused him to decline his mutual option, hitting the open market in hopes of securing a long-term megadeal.More News: Former Cubs Manager Famous for Obscenity-Ridden Rant Against Fans Passes Away at 87Nobody was willing to hand Bellinger that type of contract, though, and he returned in 2024 on a three-year, $80 million deal that contained opt-out clauses after each of the first two seasons.Bellinger still performed well last year, but he wasn't quite the same player with a slash line of .266/.325/.426, 18 homers and 78 RBI.So when he opted into his $27.5 million player option for the 2025 campaign, the writing was on the wall that the Cubs were going to offload his contract.More News: Cubs Listed As Trade Fit for $120 Million Red Sox Superstar in Unique PositionIn what was essentially a salary dump, Chicago traded him to the New York Yankees.That came back to haunt them in a major way on Friday, with Bellinger getting his revenge on the Cubs by hitting three homers against them, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit three long balls in the first game against his former team.Of course, the decision to part ways with Bellinger has worked out for Chicago.It cleared up space for Pete Crow-Armstrong to be the everyday center fielder, giving him the runway to become the rising superstar that he has been throughout this season.More News: Cubs Prospect Could Be Key to Landing Pirates’ All‑Star AceLooking back, Chicago likely would have loved to have gotten more for Bellinger.They only received Cody Poteet in that trade, a reliever who is no longer with the team and never appeared in a Major League game for the franchise after they designated him for assignment before Opening Day and ultimately traded him to the Baltimore Orioles.For more Cubs news, head over to Cubs On SI.This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/cubs as Cody Bellinger Gets Revenge on Cubs by Setting Major League Baseball History.

Cody Bellinger hit three homers for the first time in his career and drove in six runs, Carlos Rodon allowed four hits in eight outstanding innings, and the host New York Yankees ran their winning streak to five games with an 11-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.

Robbed an inning earlier, Cody Bellinger wasn't sure his first three-homer game had been swiped away again. “I didn't know at first,” he said. “For that third one to finally get over feels pretty good.

Some of the best hitters on both teams – namely, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Michael Busch for the Cubs, and Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm for the Yankees – will have a platoon disadvantage.

Find the latest odds, spread and score prediction for the Chicago Cubs vs. New York Yankees MLB game on ESPN to be played on July 13, 2025 on ESPN.

Preview the July 13 matchup between the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs with recent trends, how to watch, livestream info, and more.

Yankees vs Cubs live from ESPN3 on Watch ESPN. Live stream on Saturday, July 12, 2025.

Aaron Boone, Aaron Judge and Max Fried talk about blister that led to lefty's rare sub-par performance in loss to Cubs