NEW YORK – The home run duo of Yankees first baseman Ben Rice and right fielder Aaron Judge was at it again on Sunday afternoon against the Orioles at Yankees Stadium. Both went yard, as well as Jasson Domínguez, in an 11-3 victory, which helped New York win another series by taking the first three games of a four-game series.
But it was Ryan McMahon who drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. With the score tied at 3, one out and left-hander Grant Wolfram on the mound, McMahon hit a grounder to first baseman Coby Mayo, who bobbled the ball, allowing Domínguez to score the go-ahead run. McMahon was credited with a single on the play.
The Yankees blew it open with seven runs in the eighth. Domínguez drove in three runs in the inning with a two-run homer – his first of the season – and an RBI double. New York improved to a season-high 12 games over .500 at an AL-best 23-11.
“It was really good at-bats to get some separation there. It was a grind during the first half of the game. [We] did a lot of great things late to make it a little lopsided,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
It was encouraging to see Domínguez contribute after returning to the big leagues Monday. Sunday marked the second time in his career he has recorded a hit from both sides of the plate in a single inning (also Aug. 27, 2025, against the Nationals). He is also the only Yankee to accomplish the feat since Mark Teixeira in 2016.
“When you play a good game like that and you win, it’s always awesome,” Domínguez said. “Every time you get a base hit, anything good, the confidence is up.”
The Yankees received a scare earlier in the game. Rice left the game after the third inning with a left hand contusion, sustained after taking a low throw from left-hander Max Fried on a pickoff attempt in the top of the third. X-rays were negative, and Rice is considered day to day, the team said. He still managed to collect a double in his second at-bat using his bottom hand.
“It’s a little sore,” Rice said. “I thought the throw [from Fried] was going to be a little lower than it was. I went down and thought it would be in the dirt. Then it kind of stayed up in the end. I caught it poorly. It kind of hit in the palm.”
Paul Goldschmidt entered the game at the start of the fourth to take over at first base.
Earlier, Rice gave New York a 1-0 lead with a first-inning home run off the Orioles' Trey Gibson, making his Major League debut. It was Rice’s 12th of the season.
After the Orioles tied the score at 1 against left-hander Max Fried, Judge untied it off Gibson with a two-run homer over the left-center-field wall in the third. Judge's 13th home run pulled him into a tie for the MLB lead alongside White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami.
“It goes without saying that he isn’t going to let me catch him [in home runs]. I was happy to be on base for that one,” Rice said. “Any time I can be mentioned in the same sentence as him, I’m thrilled. Like I said, it’s fun to watch him.”
Rice and Judge became the fifth pair of teammates in history with 12-plus homers each through the first 34 games of the season. They joined the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra in 1956, the Braves’ Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron in 1959, the Rockies’ Ellis Burks and Andres Galarraga in 1994 and Cleveland’s Paul Sorrento and Manny Ramirez in 1995.
The Yankees have won five consecutive series. Boone feels his team is in a good place and has a lot of ways to beat opponents. It starts with the rotation, which leads the Major Leagues with a 2.74 ERA. They can also hit with power and play small ball that includes the running game.
“I like the fact that guys are doing a lot of little things because every game is different,” Boone said. “To be able to win in different ways has been nice.”