Ben Rice makes history with monster Yankees night at the plate

The New York Yankees (66-57) secured the series against the St. Louis Cardinals (61-63) after taking the second game at Busch Stadium 12-8, led by a spectacular night at the plate from Ben Rice. The infielder drove in seven runs and came within a triple of hitting for the cycle, recording a home run, a double and a single against St. Louis.

New York jumped out to a two-run lead in the first inning thanks to RBI hits from Aaron Judge and Jasson Domínguez. The Cardinals got on the board in the bottom half with an Iván Herrera single, then took control in the second after a rally capped by a three-run homer from Masyn Winn.

Judge provided the highlight in the third with his 39th home run of the year, a blast to deep center that fell just a foot short of 400 feet and trimmed the deficit to 5-3.

Ben Rice, the Bronx Bomber hero

Rice put the Yankees back on top in the fourth with a three-run shot, a 429-foot drive that left the bat at 108 mph. He kept producing in the sixth, lacing a double that brought in three more runs.

St. Louis kept it respectable with a two-run homer from Nolan Gorman in the bottom of the sixth, but the Yankees answered quickly. Ryan McMahon opened the seventh with a solo blast, and Rice added his seventh RBI of the game with a single to right. Jazz Chisholm Jr. pushed the lead to 12-7 with a sacrifice fly.

Shaky finish for New York

The Yankees turned to Mark Leiter Jr. to close things out after innings from Devin Williams and Yerry De Los Santos, following a rough start by Max Fried. Leiter gave up a solo homer to Pedro Pagés, trimming the lead to 12-8.

With two men on and two outs in the ninth, manager Aaron Boone summoned David Bednar, who induced Herrera to foul out to catcher Austin Wells, sealing the victory and the series.

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