BALTIMORE — A heaping serving of Rice fed the Yankees’ hunger for the division, at least for one more day.
Ben Rice clobbered a grand slam in the 10th inning, breaking a stalemate and sending the Yankees to a dramatic 7-1 win over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.
The left-on-left blast marked Rice’s fourth hit of the game before the Yankees added on to ice the win on a day when they got strong work from their bullpen to claim the four-game series.
The thriller capped off a 7-3 road trip for the Yankees (88-68), keeping their slim chances of winning the division alive while inching them closer to punching their playoff ticket. They will enter the final home stand of the season trailing the Blue Jays (who own the head-to-head tiebreaker) by two games with six to play.
“Got a chance to still take the division here and have some important games coming up,” Rice said. “It’s huge. Every game is going to be more important than the last one, so just got to stay on top of it and keep our foot on the gas.”
While the Yankees will still need some help from the Red Sox and Rays (against the Blue Jays) to have a shot at defending the AL East, on Sunday they held onto the top AL wild-card spot by at least two games over the Red Sox and at least three games over the Astros, with both of those teams playing Sunday night.
Ben Rice #22 of the New York Yankees hits a grand slam in the tenth inning during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 21, 2025Getty Images
Yankees designated hitter Aaron Judge (99) reacts after New York Yankees first base Ben Rice (not pictured) sixth-inning RBI single from second base against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park.IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“Every win is precious,” manager Aaron Boone said.
With Trent Grisham on second as the automatic runner, Aaron Judge led off the top of the 10th with a walk before the Orioles (73-83) brought in lefty Keegan Akin to face Cody Bellinger, who roped a single to left to load the bases.
That brought up Rice, who fell behind 1-2 before getting a 95 mph fastball down the middle from Akin that he crushed 413 feet for his 24th home run of the year, sending the Yankees-heavy portion of the 31,974 in attendance into a frenzy.
“It was electric,” said Cam Schlittler, who turned in another strong start with 5 ¹/₃ innings of one-run ball while striking out six. “That’s something Benny does normally. We were playing for a little bit more than they are right now, so that’s a great feeling to get that cushion going into the bottom of the 10th.”
One out later, Jazz Chisholm Jr. went deep again before Anthony Volpe added an RBI single.
AP
The Yankees had wasted chances to take the lead in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, combining to strand seven runners in that span.
But their bullpen held up their end of the deal, with Luke Weaver leaving the bases loaded in the seventh, Devin Williams striking out the side in the eighth and then David Bednar stranding the winning run at second base in the ninth.
Camilo Doval then finished it off in the the 10th, playing with fire before leaving the bases loaded, to send the Yankees into their final off-day of the regular season on a high note.
Schlittler and Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish engaged in a pitchers’ duel for six innings, with each giving up just one run — Schlittler on Samuel Basallo’s leadoff home run in the fifth and Bradish on Rice’s sinking liner that fell for an RBI single in the sixth.
Ben Rice (22), center, celebrates toward his dugout after hitting a single during the second inning.AP
The Yankees had a chance to take the lead before the inning was over, with Judge on second base and Rice at first. Jasson Domínguez roped a fly ball to the gap in left-center field that looked like it might score both of them, but Dylan Carlson ran it down for the third out just in front of the wall.
And while more frustration mounted when Trent Grisham struck out to strand a pair in the seventh and José Caballero grounded out to leave the bases loaded in the eighth, Rice finally broke the dam for the Yankees in the 10th.
“Good swings all day [by Rice], including the last one, which was terrific, left-on-left bomb there,” Boone said. “Going the other way early, laying the barrel on it all day, good job behind the plate there late to finish it off. A good one today, two starting pitchers that were on their game, kept the offense in check and fortunately guys put some really great at-bats [together] there at the end.”
