MILWAUKEE — Cody Bellinger is red-hot.

The Cubs center fielder extended his hitting streak to 12 games on Thursday with an RBI double in the 2nd inning against the Brewers’ Freddy Peralta. The lefty center fielder went 4-for-4 and finished a triple shy of the cycle in the Cubs’ 6-5 loss to Milwaukee in the series finale. It was Bellinger’s second 4-hit game as a Cub (April 17 vs. Oakland) and the 6th of his career. 

The 12-game stretch matches a career-high for Bellinger, who had a 12-game hitting streak from May 24 to June 5, 2019. In the 4th inning, Bellinger added another single. 

Bellinger added a 2-run home run in the 6th inning, a 392-foot shot to left field that chased starter Freddy Peralta from the game and cut the Cubs’ deficit to 4-3.

“I’ve been feeling good for a while and putting the right swing on the ball,” Bellinger said. “That’s the only thing I’ve been focusing on. Results or how far it was going — I wasn’t too worried about [that].” 

BELLI BOMB! pic.twitter.com/SfLTcsQsvd

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) July 6, 2023

During his streak, Bellinger has hit .467/.479/.600 with 3 doubles, a home run and 6 RBI. He’s been a crucial piece to the Cubs’ offense this season, slashing .298/.352/.486 with 8 home runs and 28 RBI. Bellinger had struggled over his past three seasons in Los Angeles, slashing .203/.272/.376 with 41 home runs, a far cry from the .278/.368/.559 and 111 homers he put up in his first three seasons.

His bounce back, plus his elite defense in center field, has provided a nice boon to the Cubs roster that struggled for production from the center field position in 2022.

Bellinger landed on the IL in mid-May with a left knee contusion that caused him to miss nearly a month of game action. Since coming off the IL on June 15, Bellinger is hitting .359.

“I was out longer than I wanted to be,” Bellinger said. “But was still able to get a lot of mental reps in [by] standing in on a lot of bullpens. [Did] enough to where I knew how I could come back and still produce.”

The 12-game hitting streak is the second-longest by a Cub this season, behind Morel’s 13-game run from May 9 to the 24.

Stat Note

• In the 3rd inning of Thursday’s game, Nico Hoerner stole third base on a double steal where Ian Happ swiped second. That marked Hoerner’s 20th stolen base of the season, becoming just the third player since 2000 to swipe 20 bags in their first 78 games. Juan Pierre (24 in 2006) and Eric Young Sr. (26 in 2000) were the other two players to accomplish the feat.