​Even in the toughest stretches, this team has had Ben Rice to lean on, and when a victory was imperative, the first baseman seized control of the game with two homers, powering an 11-4 blowout over the Rays. Neither of Rice’s homers was the go-ahead hit, nor did they come during moments of close contention, but given how taxing each inning was on the Yankees’ bullpen, the significance of that performance cannot be overstated.
To post those lofty numbers, New York had to contend with one of its perennial foes, Drew Rasmussen. In a single half-inning, the Yankees matched the total runs they had accumulated against Rasmussen in his previous nine meetings with the team. When Junior Caminero homered in the first to put the Rays on top, it was easy to feel a degree of skepticism about the Yankees’ chances, given the recent trend. Yet baseball is played on the field, and the Yankees shrugged off that negative momentum to erupt for six runs in a third-inning rally. For context, the last time they produced at least six runs in a single half-inning was nearly a month ago, in a road win against the White Sox.
The decision to start Max Schuemann in left field, while unconventional, paid off as his leadoff double sparked the third-inning surge. In a similarly unlikely moment, Ryan McMahon followed with a double of his own to bring the first run home. It proved a welcome, if unexpected, payoff to a 12-pitch duel in the Rasmussen lefty-lefty matchup. Then Trent Grisham delivered a productive single, later driven in by Ben Rice, who mashed the first of his two homers in the game.
Rasmussen couldn’t shake the matchup, failing to retire the next three hitters and failing to complete three innings in what became his worst start ever against the Yankees. Cameron Booser entered the game to challenge Jazz Chisholm Jr. in a lefty-lefty scenario with runners at the corners and one out, but the Yankees’ second baseman played the moment smartly and delivered a sacrifice fly for his team’s sixth run, his third RBI of the year.
Under typical circumstances, given the quality of the Yankees’ starting pitching this season, a 6-1 lead would feel comfortably insurmountable with plenty of baseball left to play. This bullpen game, however, followed a different script. Once the Yankees opened a larger cushion, the Rays began chipping away. Tampa loaded the bases against Jake Bird, and, against the odds, the reliever induced a rally-ending double play. The damage could have stopped there, but Ryan Yarbrough came in to face the left-handed batter’s box and allowed a double, trimming the deficit to 6-3. Even so, keeping it to two runs with the bases loaded and no outs in the frame was no small feat.