Ben Rice Blows Up the Bronx: Yankees Bury Red Sox 9-0 Behind Grand Slam and Rookie Gem
A career night from rookie starter Cam Schlittler and a record-tying six-RBI outburst from Ben Rice put the Yankees one win from advancing past Boston in the AL Wild Card Series.
The Red Sox came into the Bronx looking for a signature road win to open October. Instead, they walked into a wipeout. The New York Yankees throttled Boston 9-0 in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series on Monday night, and by the time it ended, one Yankee had rewritten a piece of the team's postseason record book.
Ben Rice went deep twice, including a bases-clearing grand slam off Boston reliever Brayan Bello in the eighth inning, and finished with six RBIs — tying the Yankees' single-game postseason RBI record. According to MLB.com, Rice also became just the sixth player in major-league history, and the first Yankee ever, to record at least four hits and six RBIs in a single postseason game. He opened the scoring with a fifth-inning solo shot off Erik Miller, added an RBI single in the seventh, then put the game away with the slam.
Schlittler sets the tone
Before Rice turned the game into a laugher, rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler made sure Boston never got comfortable. He worked 6⅓ scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out 10 on a career-high 117 pitches, per ESPN's recap of the win. It was the kind of outing that instantly puts a young pitcher's name in the conversation for a bigger role deeper into October.
The Yankees didn't need much else. Austin Wells chipped in an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, and rookie George Lombard Jr. picked up two hits in his postseason debut. New York's bullpen, fronted by Paul Blackburn, cleaned up the final innings without incident behind the deficit Boston had already dug itself into.
For the Red Sox, the loss put them in a familiar bind: teams that drop Game 1 of a best-of-three Wild Card Series have historically gone on to lose the series the vast majority of the time. Boston starter Payton Tolle stayed defiant afterward.
"I haven't heard the fat lady singing yet. ... I believe in us."
Game 2 of the series is set for Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, with New York needing just one more win to close it out and advance. For a Red Sox club that has to face off against its oldest rival with its season on the brink, Monday's 9-0 defeat was as bad a way as any to start October.