Ben Rice clubbed a two-run home run in the 10th inning Sunday afternoon and the visiting New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3.
Rice, whose error led to Toronto’s tying run in the ninth, took a 2-0 slider from Braydon Fisher (3-4) to right for his 33rd homer as the Yankees salvaged the finale of a three-game series. Rice was 0-for-12 in the series before his 10th inning homer.
Andres Gimenez flared an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th against Tim Hill, who earned his second save.
David Bednar (6-3) allowed an unearned run in 1 2/3 innings to pick up the win.
The Yankees scored once in the third against Dylan Cease. Jose Caballero, inserted at second base in a shuffled lineup, worked a walk after winning two consecutive challenges that changed strike calls to balls. He took second on Rice’s chopper in front of the plate and slid home on Luis Garcia Jr.’s sacrifice fly to moderate center.
Toronto tied the game against Ryan Weathers in the fifth. Kazuma Okamoto doubled off the base of the wall and scored on Daz Cameron’s double into the left-field corner.
Cease retired 11 in a row until Heliot Ramos walked with two out in the sixth. He stole second before Trent Grisham was caught looking at a third strike for Cease’s 200th strikeout of the season.
New York had a first-inning double by Ramos in the first and did not get another hit until George Lombard Jr. doubled high off the left-field wall with one out in the seventh to end Cease’s outing. Brendon Little took over and intentionally walked pinch hitter Paul Goldschmidt.
Caballero lined a two-out RBI single to left. Pinch runner Jazz Chisholm Jr. ran home when Caballero was caught in a rundown between first and second. It was ruled, however, that Caballero was tagged out before Chisholm crossed the plate.
Cease allowed two runs, two hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
Weathers allowed one run, six hits and one walk with four strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.
Rice flubbed pinch hitter Josh Smith’s simple grounder to first to open the ninth and Alejandro Kirk walked. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third and Ernie Clement tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center.
