NEW YORK -- Ben Rice waited his whole life for this: Yankees-Red Sox on a postseason stage, the youngster in pinstripes facing the team he grew up following from Cohasset, Mass.
Rice made the most of his first playoff moment, launching a Brayan Bello cutter into the right-field seats for a two-run first-inning homer that sparked instant electricity in the Yankees’ 4-3 victory over the Red Sox in Wednesday’s Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series.
“It felt amazing,” Rice said. “Obviously coming off of a loss [in Game 1] too, to kind of set the tone for us in the first inning to get us out to a lead felt really good.”
It was a full-circle moment for Rice, who once scribbled “Yankees Rule!” on the Pesky Pole at Fenway Park and wore a Derek Jeter replica jersey for his first-grade photo day. Now, instead of a tourist in the stands, he’s the one creating Yankee Stadium memories.
“Unbelievable. So cool,” he said. “To be a part of the rivalry now, just given where I am from and where I grew up and all that, just makes it all that much more special.”
The blast represented a continuation of a late-season surge that included a pair of homers in Sunday’s Game 162 against the Orioles. Rice concluded his first full Major League season slashing .255/.337/.499 with 28 doubles, 26 homers and 65 RBIs across 138 games.
“Benny is swinging the bat so well, especially here down the stretch,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Despite that performance, Rice was on the bench for Game 1 against Boston left-hander Garrett Crochet. Boone has said he will start Paul Goldschmidt at first base against all left-handed starters this postseason, adding that the club also preferred Austin Wells behind the plate.
While Jazz Chisholm Jr. made little attempt to hide his displeasure at being left out of the Game 1 starting lineup, Rice said he understood Boone’s call.
“I know my role,” Rice said. “Yesterday my role was to be ready for a big at-bat off the bench, and today I was starting. The approach doesn't change. I mean, I am just going to be prepared for every at-bat I get and every chance I get.”
Production like Rice showed in his first postseason at-bat might change that equation. According to Baseball Savant, Rice was tied for seventh in the Majors in hard-hit percentage (56.1) and tied for ninth in average exit velocity (93.3), prompting Boone to refer to Rice as “Benny Barrels.”
The key to that success, Rice said, has been “being aggressive to where and what I am looking for in the zone, always coming up with a plan, being convicted in that, and just being ready to go.”
So will Rice be in the Yankees’ Game 3 lineup against left-hander Connelly Early? Boone said it was still too soon to say for sure, but he did not dismiss the suggestion outright.
“It’s not just, ‘It’s a lefty,’” Boone said. “It’s, ‘What lefty?’ Is it a guy that’s going to be out there for six or seven innings? I want to leverage a spot for whoever my bench guys are to have a good matchup, and not three bad matchups that I can guarantee. All those things factor into it.”