Ben Rice drives in seven as Yankees win slugfest over Cardinals, 12-8

Ben Rice homered and drove in seven and Aaron Judge added a home run and two RBI as the Yankees topped the Cardinals, 12-8, in a Saturday night slugfest in St. Louis.

Add in Trent Grisham’s four-hit game, the first three batters in the Yanks order went a combined 9-for-13 with nine RBI, seven runs scored, two home runs, two doubles, four walks, and three strikeouts. 

With the win, New York (66-57) has now won six of nine after snapping a five-game losing skid. The Yankees are 2.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians, who lost on Saturday, for the final AL wild card spot.

Here are the key takeaways…

– The Yanks quickly jumped on Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray’s slow start to the game with Grisham leading off with a single to right, Rice taking a four-pitch walk, and Judge yanking a first-pitch cutter up in the zone for an RBI double. Jasson Dominguez added an RBI single to left, but Gray limited the damage by striking out Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe swinging and Ryan McMahon looking to end the first.m

– Leading off the top of the third, Judge hammered the first-pitch he saw for a 396-foot home run that hit off the top of the wall in right-center, just over the glove of St. Louis centerfielder Victor Scott. In two at-bats against Gray, Judge saw two offerings and hit them 101.9 mph in the first and 101.4 mph in the third, tallying his 25th double, 39th home run, and 91st and 92nd RBI of the season in the process. 

– New York got something cooking with one down in the fourth when Jose Caballero dropped a perfect bunt down to third and Grisham muscled a single off his hands into right for a first and third chance. And after falling behind 0-2, Rice got a sinker that hung right over the heart of the plate for a no-doubt three-run shot to right center. The 429-foot blast, smacked 108.3 mph off the bat, put the Yanks up 6-5.

– Austin Wells singled to right to start the sixth inning off Cardinals reliever Kyle Leahy, snapping a run of just eight hits in 65 at-bats (.123) over his last 20 games entering the game. Caballero and Grisham followed with singles to load the bases and Rice got a hanging curveball and rocketed into the gap for a three-run double off the base of the wall in right-center.

Rice got another chance with men on base in the seventh and singled to right for his seventh RBI of the game, tying a career high. 

– Max Fried threw his first pitch with a lead, but allowed a run three batters in after Dominguez misplayed a single into a one-out triple and a single to right plated the Cards’ first run. The left-hander, who has been struggling of late, surrendered the lead in the second with a leadoff walk and back-to-back one-out singles to tie the game. Fried’s 1-1 cutter to Masyn Winn leaked over the inner third and found the left field seats for a 375-foot three-run home run.

After the homer, Fried retired 11 of the next 12 batters with five strikeouts, allowing just an infield single to second. Jordan Walker put an end to that with a double off the wall in right center on a cutter down and over the plate that was just tattooed (111.9 mph off the bat) to start the home half of the sixth. Two pitches later, Fried’s curveball off the inside corner was yanked just inside the right field foul pole for a Nolan Gorman two-run home run, and that ended the starter's night after 94 pitches (56 strikes).

That ended the lefty-hander's night: 5.0 innings, seven runs on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Going back to his final start before the All-Star break, in which Fried developed a blister on his left index finger, he has now pitched to a 7.20 ERA over his last six starts, allowing 29 runs (24 earned) on 40 hits and 13 walks with 30 strikeouts in 30 innings (1.767 WHIP). Since the end of June, his ERA has jumped from 1.92 to 3.26.

– Out of the bullpen, Devin Williams came in and looked very impressive, striking out the side in the sixth on just 19 pitches (13 strikes) with three whiffs and four called strikes. Yerry De Los Santos added two strikeouts while allowing just an infield hit over two innings of work. 

In the ninth, Mark Leiter Jr. got stung for Pedro Pagés' 429-foot dinger on a sinker on the inside corner with one out before allowing back-to-back two-out infield singles. That was enough for Aaron Boone to summon David Bednar, who promptly ended the game on three pitches with a pop-up behind home plate for the save.

– McMahon, with 14 hits in his first 58 at-bats with the Yanks, cranked a solo home run to right on a ball that just kept carrying to start the seventh, his first with the club. He finished the day 1-for-5.

– Volpe made a couple of nice plays at shortstop, but his struggles at the plate continued as he went hitless in five at-bats with three strikeouts. He has just seven hits in his last 47 at-bats (.149) and is now batting .215 with a .696 OPS on the season.

Game MVP: Ben Rice

Three hits in five at-bats with seven RBI and a walk. He's now batting .240 on the year with an .804 OPS.

Highlights

Upcoming schedule

The Yanks go for the sweep of the three-game series over the Cards with Sunday afternoon's 2:15 p.m. first pitch.

Will Warren (4.34 ERA, 1.365 WHIP in 122.1 innings over 25 starts) climbs the hill for New York. Right-hander Miles Mikolas (4.97 ERA, 1.283 WHIP in 117.2 innings over 23 starts) will get the ball for the home team.

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