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NLCS Game 7: Cody Bellinger dislocates shoulder celebrating go-ahead home run

cassandra negley
Women's basketball reporter
·2 min read

Cody Bellinger might want to tone down the celebrations, even if the moment was a massive one.

The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder crushed a fastball to the right-field seats in the seventh inning of Game 7 on Sunday night. It was the game-winning run for the Dodgers, who outlasted the Atlanta Braves, 4-3, to return to the World Series.

Bellinger’s shot is an immediate entry to the Dodgers best-of lists. There was no question it was gone and the 2019 MVP slowly watched it before jogging around the bases.

Upon his return to home plate he celebrated with his teammates by smashing forearms. That in itself seems like a bad move. It’s more curious since Bellinger has dislocated his right shoulder before. The 2019 injury forced his defensive re-assignment from first base to outfield.

An on-field video by MLB shows the 25-year-old smashing arms with AJ Pollock and Kiké Hernández, whose pinch-hit homer in the sixth tied it. He spins and avoids any more arm-related activities after that.

Bellinger was seen telling right fielder Mookie Betts his shoulder popped out in the next inning and confirmed after the game that’s what happened.

“I’m good. I’m good. I hit Kiké’s shoulder a little too hard and my shoulder popped out, so I had to go back in the training room,” Bellinger said on MLB Network. “They popped it back in and I was ready to play some defense. It kind of hurt.”

Given what happened, will he be changing up his celebration?

“Yeah I’m going to maybe use my left arm,” Bellinger said. “I’ve never dislocated that one. So I’ll go left arm maybe.”

It was Hernandez who got the final zinger in on the moment.

“You can take a positive out of everything,” Hernandez said in the post-game interview on FOX. “And the positive here is that Belli now knows that he can’t mess with people who are way stronger than him.”

Los Angeles Dodgers' Cody Bellinger, right, smashes his right forearm against Kike Hernandez's right forearm.
Los Angeles Dodgers' Cody Bellinger, right, dislocated his shoulder celebrating with Kike Hernandez in Game 7 of the NLCS. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

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