Ben Rice plays hero as Yankees slug past Blue Jays

When Ben Rice came up to the plate for the New York Yankees in the ninth inning, the score was tied and New York was facing pressure to avoid another loss to the team it is looking up at in the AL East standings.

Rice delivered with a game-winning home run.

The Yankees evened up their pivotal late-July three-game series in Toronto with a 5-4 victory, moving to three games back of the top spot in the division.

Rice Rakes #RepBX pic.twitter.com/SqlAasmJD9 The Yankees evened up their pivotal late-July three-game series in Toronto with a 5-4 victory, moving to three games back of the top spot in the division.

With all five runs sent home via the long ball, New York jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first thanks to a three-run bomb by Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Canada Drive @j_chisholm3 pic.twitter.com/0HIdG3u8H6 Cody Bellinger crushed a solo shot in the fifth, his 18th of the year and one of his three hits in the game, but Toronto tacked on one of its own in the in the bottom half of the inning before tying the score with two more in the sixth.

Cody Crush pic.twitter.com/VmjwQhYOBC New York had to use five relievers after rookie starter Cam Schlitter gave up a pair of runs off seven hits through five innings of work in his first no decision of his MLB career.

Aaron Judge, now hitting .346, has yet to record a hit so far in the series.

He was 0-for-3 with a walk on Tuesday.

But the Yankees didn't need Judge's heroics on this night.

Rice was the one to put the cape on, rocking a ball into the stands in right field that would end up winning the game.

Ben came up big #RepBX pic.twitter.com/1ZJtARNcs7 The Yankees' win means Wednesday will be the rubber match of this latest series between the two American League contenders.

Both teams are 6-4 in their last 10 games.

Mike Asti is an experienced media personality and journalist with a vast resume and skillset, most notably from time with TribLIVE Radio and WPXI-TV.

Asti now serves as the Managing Editor of WV Sports Now, where he leads the coverage of WVU sports.

He has also covered the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and other teams within the Pittsburgh market.

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