TORONTO -- Ben Rice didn’t love the early swings he took on Sunday afternoon. They lacked conviction, he thought, showing little of the presence that makes him one of the Yankees’ most important hitters while Aaron Judge is sidelined.
Good thing he saved his best one for the end. Rice cracked his team’s second tie-breaking ninth-inning homer in as many games, a two-run blast that lifted the Yankees to an 8-3 victory over the Blue Jays on Sunday at Rogers Centre.
“It just speaks to the mentality of the group,” Rice said. “I feel like everyone’s got that next-man-up mentality. Regardless of who’s on the mound, regardless of the situation, we’re going to go up there and put together a quality at-bat.”
Following the script of Paul Goldschmidt’s deciding homer on Saturday, Rice connected with a Braydon Fisher slider for his team-leading 19th home run of the season, a Statcast-projected 381-foot knock that cleared the right-field wall.
As he returned to the first-base dugout, manager Aaron Boone said he told Rice, “Man, you took some bad swings today. Right on time for that last one, baby.”
“I think he’s being friendly there,” Rice said with a smile. “There were definitely some swings that weren’t very convicted on my end, so to finish the day on a good one -- that feels nice.”
José Caballero broke the game open with a three-run homer off Tommy Nance, with New York lighting up a taxed bullpen. Boone said Caballero got to flex his batting-practice power with the Statcast-projected 420-foot drive to left field, noting, “That’s one of those he hits in BP all the time.”
Soon, singing echoed off the visiting clubhouse shower tile -- someone belting out the lyrics to DJ Ötzi’s “Hey Baby,” a Blue Jays stadium singalong staple.
Those kinds of light moments were difficult to find last season in Toronto, where the Yankees lost eight of nine games, including two in the American League Division Series. This marked the Yankees’ first series win in Toronto since September 2023.
“Chip on our shoulder; we don’t like those guys over there, and they don’t like us,” Will Warren said. “So finding any way to win is always a good one, especially on the road.”
Anthony Volpe drove in a pair of runs, stroking a run-scoring single in the second inning and another in the sixth. Ali Sánchez picked up his first hit and RBI in a Yankees uniform, contributing a run-scoring double off Patrick Corbin.
“It feels good to shake hands and be celebrating a win in here,” Boone said. “Obviously, that was very difficult for us in this building last year. It is a new year, and you’ve got to keep going all the time, but what a good finish to an outstanding [5-1] road trip.”
For the second consecutive start, Warren had to grind. The right-hander scattered eight hits over four innings, limiting damage to a pair of runs.
Kazuma Okamoto reached on a run-scoring single in the third, a play that included an Amed Rosario throwing error, and Nathan Lukes tied the game with an RBI single in the fourth.
“The Blue Jays are going to Blue Jay,” Warren said. “They get their singles and make it tough on us, but I’m happy to get out of there with only two runs and give us a chance to win.”
Warren threw 98 pitches (62 for strikes), coming off a 4 1/3-inning effort against the Guardians in which he tossed 91 pitches. The Yanks have won 12 of his 14 starts this season.
“I feel like I’ve come in here a lot of nights and said, ‘That was a gritty one right there,’” Boone said. “These guys are playing for a lot. To be an outstanding club, you’ve got to develop that hunger throughout the year, and I feel like these guys are in the midst of that.”
Davis Schneider hit a game-tying homer off Jake Bird in the sixth, and Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing a balk called on Jeff Hoffman. But that wasn’t the day’s most curious interaction with the umpiring crew.
In the sixth inning, Caballero received a warning for what home-plate umpire Steven Jaschinski said was “intentionally delaying” the game.
Caballero frequently tests the limits of a pitch clock-era rule that requires the batter and pitcher to be “alert to each other” by the eight-second mark. Boone said he planned to speak to the league office about the situation.
“I do the same thing, over and over,” Caballero said. “Even from the windup or the stretch, I do the same move. It’s not my fault the pitchers rush a little bit.”