Ben Rice went 1-for-5 with a two-run homer as the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 4-3 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon.
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.
