Ben Rice ends homer drought in win over Braves

Rice entered Sunday hitting .091 in 13 games this month. The most troubling aspect of this slump is a strikeout rate north of 30%. 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.

Rice is not exactly known for his speed, but he already has three triples on the season, and this one was a big one as it turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 cushion. The 27-year-old was outstanding in the first half, and the Home Run Derby participant has now driven in 68 runs in 2026. Some regression is certainly possible — baseball is hard — but everything Rice has shown over the first few months suggest this is legit.

Rice’s first homer barely scraped over the fence -- in fact it was reviewed by the umpire crew to be sure it crossed the yellow line -- but his second was a no-doubter to right-center that almost hit the Rays aquarium. The Yankees haven’t hit much of late, but Rice has been carrying them with five homers in his last seven games. He’s got a few more warm-up acts before the Home Run Derby -- the two homers he hit here made his total of 28 a career high. He still has a whole second half of the season to play.

Rice took Rays lefty Ian Seymour deep with an opposite-field shot in the third inning. It was his 26th long ball of the season and second consecutive contest with a round-tripper. The 27-year-old appears to be warming up just in time for next week’s All-Star Home Run Derby.

Rice joins Junior Caminero as known participants for the event, which will take place Monday in Philadelphia. The 27-year-old has been sensational in 2026 with 25 homers, and it’s not hard to imagine him doing well in the competition next week.

Rice provided a little extra insurance for New York with a ninth-inning dinger against Rays reliever Chris Roycroft. The power-hitting 27-year-old is one round-tripper away from matching last year’s total and is on pace to threaten the lofty 40-homer plateau. He’s cooled off considerably after a sizzling-hot start to the year, but he’s still providing plenty of over-the-fence pop.