Ben Rice got booed at Citizens Bank Park during the Home Run Derby on Monday. By Tuesday night, he was making history.
The rookie Yankees first baseman and his teammate Cody Bellinger did something no two Yankees had done in an All-Star Game together since Roger Maris and Tom Tresh pulled it off in 1962. Both drove in runs. Rice knocked in Bellinger with a single in the first inning off Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez, and Bellinger had already plated two runs with a single of his own earlier in the frame. That gave the American League a 3-0 lead before most people had settled into their seats.
It wasn’t just about the box score. The moment carried weight because of the company they joined. Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth — those are the names on that list. Rice and Bellinger are the first Yankees teammates to drive in runs in an All-Star Game since Maris and Tresh did it more than six decades ago. That’s a long damn time.
A fast start that held up
Bellinger’s two-run single came off Sanchez in the first. Rice followed with an RBI single that scored Bellinger. Just like that, the AL had a 3-0 cushion, and the NL never really recovered. Toronto’s Dylan Case got the win on the mound after a clean first inning, but the real story was the Yankees pair setting the tone early.
The final score was 4-0. The AL pitching staff did the rest, but the offense came from two guys wearing the same uniform. That doesn’t happen often. History says it almost never does.
Rice, for what it’s worth, handled the Home Run Derby boos from the Philly crowd without much fuss. He said it was just part of the deal. “It’s Philly,” he told reporters. “You expect it.” The rookie looked unfazed in the actual game, too. That first-inning single was a professional at-bat — stayed inside the ball, went the other way, drove in a run. That’s how you earn respect from fans who were booing you 24 hours earlier.
What comes next for the Yankees
The second half starts Friday. First up is the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium. A three-game series. The Dodgers have been the best team in baseball for two years running, and the Yankees are trying to prove they can hang with that tier. Bellinger and Rice will be right in the middle of it.
New York’s lineup looks different than it did in April. Rice has settled in at first base, and Bellinger has given them a lefty bat who can play center or first when needed. If these two keep hitting like they did Tuesday night, that series against the Dodgers might tell us a lot about where this Yankees team is headed.
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