Ben Rice turned Game 1 of the American League wild card series into a laugher with his two-out grand slam in the bottom of the eighth against the Boston Red Sox, his second home run of the night in the New
York Yankees' 9-0 win.
The Yankees led 4-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth and pushed a fifth run across on Austin Wells' sacrifice fly. But Brayan Bello walked Paul Goldschmidt to load the bases again, bringing up Rice. The All-Star fell behind 0-2 but worked Bello to a full count before driving the sixth pitch of the at-bat over the wall, sending Yankee Stadium into a frenzy.
Rice hit 41 home runs in the regular season and had a solo homer off left-hander Erik Miller in the bottom of the sixth inning that had extended the Yankees one-run lead to 2-0.
Rice guys finish blast. pic.twitter.com/afe7NqeqKB
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 30, 2026
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch Ben Rice's grand slam turn Yankees-Red Sox game into a laugher
