Ben Rice hit a tiebreaking two-run homer with one out in the fifth inning off Dylan Cease as the New York Yankees kept rolling at home and hung on for a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
Rice tied Aaron Judge for the team lead with his 16th homer when he snapped a 3-3 tie. Following a walk to Trent Grisham, Rice lifted a fastball into the right field seats after getting ahead in the count 2-0 on Cease’s curveball and changeup.
Rice homered after Cease (3-2) retired him on sliders in the first and third innings. It was the first baseman’s fourth homer in the past eight games and eighth in the past 20 contests.
Rice’s homer gave the Yankees their 11th win in the past 12 home games following a nightmarish 2-7 road trip that featured three walk-off losses.
Ryan McMahon hit a tying three-run homer in the fourth after Toronto scored three times off New York’s Will Warren (6-1) in the top half. McMahon stopped an 0-for-24 slide by lifting Cease’s first-pitch fastball into the left field seats following walks to Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Daulton Varsho collected four hits and also made a diving catch on Chisholm in center field to end the seventh. Varsho started Toronto’s three-run fourth with a single and scored on a single by Yohendrick Pinango.
Jesus Sanchez and Andres Gimenez added RBI singles before Warren retired Tyler Heineman and George Springer to keep the deficit at three runs.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Springer and Okamoto were a combined 1-for-12 as the Blue Jays lost for the 10th time in 15 games.
Warren allowed three runs on six hits in five innings. The right-hander struck out three and walked one.
After Warren exited, four relievers combined on four innings.
Tim Hill stranded a runner in the sixth, and Brent Headrick retired rookie Kazuma Okamoto with two on to end the seventh after Jake Bird hit Guerrero on the back.
Headrick pitched a scoreless eighth and Camilo Doval stranded two in the ninth for his second save since being acquired last season from San Francisco after allowing Guerrero’s sacrifice fly.
Cease allowed five runs on four hits in five innings. The right-hander struck out nine to raise his AL-leading total to 84 but also issued four walks.
