The Yankees have lost an ugly game in the ALDS yet again. As a result of another contest in which they were played off the field by a division rival, they are once again compelled to win three straight games facing elimination to keep their season alive. The Yankees have never won a postseason series under Aaron Boone as the underdog—and through two games their lifeless, gormless play has proven immune to the best-laid pitching plans of one of the most dominant pitching staffs in franchise history.
If you’re looking for a hero in this 5-2 loss at Tropicana Field, you’re going to have to keep looking. At least unlike Saturday there was a number above zero on New York’s side of the scorecard. Ben Rice provided those two tallies with a pair of home runs to right, the first of which provided a brief spark of hope that the Yankees might not totally butcher this thing—before they totally butchered it just two innings later.
Rice hit a flyout in his first at-bat, precipitating a perfect first time through the order for Rays starter Freddy Peralta. But his second time up promised a better future for this game and this series. Fastball Freddy, as the broadcast referred to him roughly a dozen times throughout the night, started Rice off with said fastball before abandoning it in favor of his changeup. He made three successive attempts to lure Rice into chasing the pitch—and his third try was successful to bring the count to 2-2.
That whiff seemed to further convince Peralta to stick with his change, especially knowing that Rice is one of the league’s best fastball hitters. So for the fourth straight time, he went changeup away—but he left this one in the strike zone, along the outside corner. Rice capitalized, shooting it over the right field wall for a game-tying solo blast.
Rice did his job effectively again when he came up for a third time in the fifth inning. With two outs, Austin Wells doubled off Peralta to spark a rally. Ryan McMahon followed by working a walk after falling behind 0-2, which ended Peralta’s night. Rice was the first man to face lefty reliever Cam Booser, and got nothing good to swing at. The southpaw pitched around Ben, who refused to expand the zone. He worked his walk to load the bases for Cody Bellinger, known for his track record of success against left-handed pitching. Bellinger very nearly found the go-ahead hit he was looking for with a long fly ball to center field, but Jonny DeLuca ran it down on the warning track.
Of course, the Rays benefitted from a Yankee pratfall routine immediately afterward, destroying all positive momentum and building a 5-1 lead. But Rice, outcome be damned, was gonna turn in another good at-bat. Facing Ian Seymour to lead off the eighth inning, he took a first-pitch sweeper for a strike, then unleashed a lightning-fast swing on an inside changeup. His line drive down the right field line snuck over the wall for his second homer of the night.
Rice could not spark a greater rally. The Yankees went down in order against Seymour right after that second homer, and put up no resistance against closer Bryan Baker. The Yankees are on the verge on another ignominious end to a strong season, but at the very least we can give a tip of the hat to their best hitter all year, who never gave in even as the rest of the team kept making the same familiar mistakes that routinely send this team home emptyhanded in October.
If a miraculous and frankly uncharacteristic series victory from down 2-0 is in the offing, no doubt Ben Rice will be one of the key reasons. The Yankees will need more than just him to hit, but his exceptional talent must also continue to be front-and-center for the Bombers to save their season.
