Ben Rice Goes Nuclear, Yankees Torch Tampa Bay 12-4
Ben Rice hit two home runs, drove in five, and scored three times as the Yankees dismantled the Rays 12-4 on July 9. The story of the night was a third-inning eruption that turned a one-run deficit into a rout before most fans had finished their first drink.
Junior Caminero gave Tampa Bay the early edge, launching a 438-foot shot to right center in the first to make it 1-0. It looked, briefly, like the Rays might have something going. They did not. The Yankees answered in the third with a six-run avalanche that buried the game. McMahon doubled to right to score Schuemann, Grisham singled to score McMahon, and then Rice put it away — homering 367 feet to right, scoring Grisham with him. The call was reviewed and upheld. That swing sent Tampa Bay's win probability crashing from 38% to 21%, a 17-point collapse on a single pitch. Caballero and Chisholm Jr. kept the inning alive with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 6-1. The Rays clawed back two runs before the inning ended — Caminero grounded into a double play that scored Fortes, and Mesa Jr. hit a ground rule double to score Díaz — but 6-3 was never going to be enough against this lineup.
Austin Wells added a solo shot to right in the fourth (375 feet) to push it to 7-3, and Rice finished off any remaining suspense in the sixth with a 422-foot blast to center that scored Wells and Grisham, making it 10-3. That second home run — bigger, deeper, more emphatic than the first — looks like the kind of performance that demands attention heading into the All-Star break. Rice finished 2-for-4 with 2 HR, 5 RBI, and 3 runs scored. McMahon went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI, adding another run-scoring double in the seventh. Bellinger capped the scoring in the eighth with a single to center that plated Rice for the final margin of 12-4.
On the mound, the Yankees used a committee approach. Angel Chivilli opened with two perfect innings — no hits, no walks, three strikeouts. Paul Blackburn followed with two more innings, allowing 2 hits and 1 earned run while striking out three. Brent Headrick worked 1.2 innings with 3 hits, 1 earned run, and three more strikeouts. Tampa Bay's Cam Booser lasted just 1.2 innings, giving up 1 hit and 1 earned run before the bullpen inherited the wreckage. With Aaron Judge still sidelined — he's set to have his injured rib reimaged during the All-Star break, per ESPN — the Yankees appear to be finding ways to manufacture offense without their franchise cornerstone. That's either encouraging depth or a warning sign about how good this team could be once he returns. Probably both.