Ben Rice's three-run homer, Max Fried's seven strong innings propel Yankees to series win over Blue Jays

The Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, earning a series win in the process.

Here are the key takeaways…

— The Yankees jumped on Max Scherzer early. After an Aaron Judge walk and a Cody Bellinger single, Ben Rice connected for a three-run shot to right, giving the Bombers a quick 3-0 lead. Bellinger added an RBI double off the wall in the bottom of the third, and Scherzer's day ended in the fifth inning.

Scherzer lasted 4.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on just three hits while striking out eight and walking four.

— Max Fried had a strong afternoon on the mound, though his defense behind him wasn't always up to par. Fried allowed a pair of runs in the second, and an Anthony Volpe throwing error (his 19th of the season) would ultimately lead to a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. RBI double in the third inning, which tied the game at 3-3. The run was ultimately earned, but Volpe's shotty defense continues to be an issue.

A throwing error by Austin Wells nearly led to another run in the fourth, but Judge bailed the catcher out by making a sliding grab on a George Springer liner to keep the Jays off the board and maintain the one-run New York lead.

Fried ended up giving the Yankees seven quality innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits, striking out four and walking one.

— With the Yankees up by a run, Aaron Boone turned to Devin Williams for the eighth inning, putting the embattled reliever in a huge spot. After his first pitch of the inning sailed to the backstop, Williams allowed a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Addison Barger,who immediately stole second to get into scoring position.

But Williams locked in and retried the next two hitters, including a Guerrero strikeout. Then, after a walk put two runners on base, Williams induced an easy grounder to third to end the inning.

— The Yankees took that same one-run lead into the ninth, when David Bednar allowed a one-out single to Nathan Lukes to put the tying run on base. But Lukes tried to steal second, and Wells gunned him down with a perfect throw for the second out of the inning. Bednar then got Myles Straw to ground out to secure the win, brining the Yankees within two games of the division lead.

— Paul Goldschmidt is dealing with a bone bruise in his knee, but all testing came back clean, Boone said. Goldschmidt entered the game as a defense replacement in the ninth inning.

Game MVP:

Rice, whose three-run bomb set the tone early.

Highlights

Upcoming schedule

The Yankees have Monday day off before starting a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers, starting on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m.

Will Warren is scheduled to face Casey Mize.

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