Bellinger, Chisholm hit 2-run homers in 7th-inning rally, Yankees hang on to top Blue Jays 7-6

NEW YORK (AP) — Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit two-run homers off Yariel Rodríguez in the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees survived another shaky performance by David Bednar to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 Monday night as they opened a homestand against AL East rivals following a 2-7 trip.

Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs, including a home run on Patrick Corbin's first pitch of the game, and Bednar allowed a ninth-inning run before stranding a pair of runners by striking out George Springer and retiring Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a groundout.

Ernie Clement had four RBIs, including a three-run homer, and Springer hit his first home run since March 30 for the Blue Jays.

New York, which improved to 4-10 in one-run games, trailed 3-1 in the fourth inning and 5-3 in the seventh in its first game against Toronto since losing last year’s AL Division Series.

Aaron Judge singled off Rodríguez (0-1), who had just relieved with two outs, and Bellinger drove a low splitter into the Yankees bullpen in right-center. Pinch-hitter Trent Grisham walked and Chisholm sliced a slider down the left-field line.

He stood at the plate, watching and leaning to will the ball fair, and it clanked off the foul pole. Chisholm flipped his bat, turned to teammates in the dugout and pounded his chest, then made a basketball jump shot motion as he rounded the bases.

Paul Blackburn (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief.

Bednar entered with a 7-5 lead and got his 11th save in 13 chances. The two-time All-Star walked Clement leading off and pinch-hitter Jesús Sánchez followed with an RBI double. Brandon Valenzuela struck out and rookie Yohendrick Pinangor walked, bringing up the top of Toronto's batting order.

Clement put Toronto ahead 3-1 when in the fourth when reached for a Ryan Weathers changeup just 1.22 feet above the ground and drove it into the first row in left.

Toronto's Adam Macko, a 25-year-old left-hander born in Slovakia, got three straight outs in his major league debut.

Yankees catcher Austin Wells was out of the starting lineup for the second straight day. He was 2 for 23 (.087) with 11 strikeouts on the trip, dropping his season average to .173 with five RBIs.

“Terrible,” Wells said before the game. “You can read the numbers, so it's not good.”

Yankees RHP Will Warren (5-1, 3.42 ERA) and Blue Jays RHP Dylan Cease (3-1, 2.41) start Tuesday night.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger looks after his two-run homer during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after hitting a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. celebrates his two-run home run in the dugout during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A patch memorializing John Sterling, the long-time New York Yankees radio announcer, is seen on a uniform before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. looks after his two-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said Monday that the Supreme Court risks being seen as political in the wake of a major voting rights decision.

She spoke after writing a solo dissent from the court's decision allowing Louisiana to move quickly to use new maps after the court's conservative majority struck down a majority-Black district and weakened the Voting Rights Act.

“Public confidence is really all the judiciary has,” she said at a talk before the American Law Institute in Washington, D.C.

“Everyone believes the court system is outside the political sphere. I think that means it's incumbent on us to do things, to act in ways, that shore up public confidence,” she said.

Polling has shown public trust in the Supreme Court at historic lows in recent years, and Chief Justice John Roberts has separately bemoaned a perception that the justices are “political actors," calling it a misunderstanding.

Jackson has become a frequent dissenter on the Supreme Court, joining her liberal colleagues last month to oppose the 6-3 decision that hollowed out the Voting Rights Act and later writing for herself to protest an order allowing Louisiana to use new maps even though early primary voting had already begun. She said the court had “spawned chaos” amid a fierce nationwide redistricting battle.

Three of her conservative colleagues on the court forcefully disagreed, calling her criticism “baseless" and saying accusations of partisanship aren't justified. The alternative, they wrote, would have been to allow an election under a map found to be unconstitutional.

FILE- Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks to the 2025 Supreme Court Fellows Program, Feb. 13, 2025, at the Library of Congress in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool, File)

File - Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks to the 2025 Supreme Court Fellows Program, Feb. 13, 2025, at the Library of Congress in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool, File)

The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)