Ben Rice ends homer drought in win over Braves

Rice hit just .184 with four home runs and 13 RBI in August. So far in September, he’s 9-for-17 (.529) with one home run and two RBI in four games. Rice is hitting .261 with an .883 OPS and 88 RBI this year.

Rice hit his 36th homer of the season with a solo shot off Walker Buehler; one of only two runs the Yankees were able to score in the contest. The 27-year-old has gone through it over the last couple of months, but it’s hard to complain about that level of production from Rice or really any other player.

Rice ended up hitting .184/.304/.337 in August. He’s hit .216/.313/.432 over the last three months. Most everyone is still treating him as an ascendent star, but his bat speed and exit velocity numbers are all worse than last year and his strikeout rate has taken a big jump in the wrong direction. He’s definitely a good player, but he seems like a worst bet going forward now than he did a year ago.

Rice’s RBI single in the third inning tied the game 1-1. In the eighth inning, his two-run single extended the Yankees lead to 9-2. Rice is hitting .254 with an .877 OPS and 86 RBI on the season.

Rice has scuffled at the plate this month, but this marked his second homer in his past three games. It was his 34th this season, giving him a chance to finish with 40+ as a catcher-eligible player in fantasy leagues. He’ll lose that eligibility in 2027 but should be drafted as one of the earliest first basemen off the board. There is perhaps even further upside in a full season hitting alongside Aaron Judge.

Rice entered Sunday hitting .091 in 13 games this month. The most troubling aspect of this slump is a strikeout rate north of 30 percent. He only struck out once this afternoon, and the homer goes a long way toward easing concerns about his rest-of-season outlook. Rice got off to such a strong start that his second-half struggles have been waved away somewhat. It hasn’t helped that the entire Yankee lineup has scuffled for most of the summer. Cody Bellinger is at least beginning a rehab assignment this week, though the potential return of Aaron Judge is what will truly make this lineup scary again.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Yankees trailing 2-1, Rice stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second. The slumping slugger made the most of a big spot when he ripped a long single off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias to bring home Austin Wells and tie the game at 2-2. Rice’s hit came up just short of hitting a walk-off homer and wound up forcing extra innings in a game they trailed in all night. It was a much-needed big hit for Rice, who is now 1-for-18 at the plate in the month of August.

It’s Rice’s first time out of the lineup since June 26. With Rice getting the night off and injuries being such a factor, this really looks like a spring training lineup from the Yankees: LF Max Schuemann, 1B Paul Goldschmidt, DH Amed Rosario, RF Jasson Domínguez, 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr., SS Anthony Volpe, CF Spencer Jones, C Ali Sánchez and 3B José Caballero.

The homer off Tim Mayza in the seventh was his ninth off a lefty this year. Although he’s striking out 28 percent of the time against southpaws, he’s managed a fine .261/.322/.515 line in 134 plate appearances. It will ensure that he remains a full-time starter if Giancarlo Stanton reclaims the DH spot sometime next month.

Rice’s 30th bomb of the year, hit off Carmen Mlodzinski, tied the game, but the Yankees couldn’t add anything from there. Rice struck out in three of his other four at-bats, including with the go-ahead run on in the bottom of the ninth. Still, he’s the one Yankee who can’t be blamed for this loss. He’s the fourth hitter to reach 30 homers this year, joining Yordan Alvarez, Hunter Goodman and Kyle Schwarber.