Rice makes history with second two-homer game of postseason

Ben Rice slugged another two home runs in Monday night’s 5-2 Yankees loss in ALDS Game 2 at Tropicana Field, providing all the offense for New York.

His team may be looking to pull off another 2-0 comeback in a best-of-five series as the series shifts to Yankee Stadium, but there’s no question Rice’s home run exploits have been notable.

Let’s dig in on the Yankees’ 2021 Draft pick who set a franchise record on Monday.

• Rice had a modest first foray into the postseason last year with the Yankees, going 4-for-18 with one home run in six games. He’s off to a faster start this year, with seven hits, including four home runs, in four games. His five homers are the second-most in Yankees history in a player’s first 10 postseason games, behind Bernie Williams’ six.

• Those four home runs this year have come in bunches. Rice hit two homers in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, then did the same on Monday. Incredibly, he’s the first player in Yankees history with two multihomer games in a single postseason. For context, this is the franchise’s 61st postseason appearance. Yes, the entire postseason consisted solely of the World Series until 1969, but the Yankees have been there plenty in the multi-round era. Rice has also done this in four games -- the minimum in any World Series.

• Rice, 27, is the first player in postseason history with two multihomer games in his team’s first four games of a single postseason. Only seven other players have had multiple multihomer games in a single postseason, though none got there as expediently as Rice. He joined Shohei Ohtani (three in 2025), Nick Castellanos (2023), Yordan Alvarez (2023), Chase Utley (2009), Jayson Werth (2009), Troy Glaus (2022) and Willie Aikens (1980) as the only players with multiple multihomer games in a single postseason campaign.

• Rice’s four homers this postseason is tied with Lou Gehrig in 1928 for the second-most home runs in the Yankees’ first four games of a postseason. They trail only Giancarlo Stanton, who had five at this point in 2020.

• Rice tied Fernando Tatis Jr., Eric Karros, Glaus, Williams and Aikens for the most multihomer games by any player in his first 10 career postseason games.

• Rice’s first home run came off a changeup from Freddy Peralta, which is notable for a few reasons. It was the fourth home run on Peralta’s changeup this season, including the playoffs -- but the first since he was traded to the Rays. He’s leaned more heavily on the pitch since joining Tampa Bay, and with great results: Entering Monday, hitters were 7-for-58 in at-bats ending on Peralta’s changeup since he joined the Rays, and all seven hits were singles. But Rice had gotten to the pitch before. Remember those three prior homers off Peralta’s changeup this season? The first of those was by Rice on May 17.

• Rice’s second home run was also on a changeup, from Ian Seymour. Rice is the second player this year with two homers off changeups in a game, joining Gunnar Henderson on May 27. Rice also became the first player with two homers off changeups in a postseason game under tracking (since 2008).