TORONTO — The reasons for the Yankees offense death-spiraling over the past two months are spread up and down the lineup.
But among the more notable culprits has been Ben Rice not producing like the Ben Rice from earlier this season.
Before going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts Saturday in a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays, the slugging first baseman still came into the game with the fifth-highest OPS in the American League at .883 and the third-most home runs with 32. But over his past 21 games, he was hitting just .130 (10-for-77) with a .494 OPS and two home runs, coinciding with a team-wide slump.
Going back even further, over his past 46 games, he was batting .193 with a .694 OPS and 10 home runs.
“Definitely been going through it here in the second half,” manager Aaron Boone said before Saturday’s loss. “Just getting under some balls or getting on top of balls. Just got to make sure he gets on a line.”
Rice hit a 105.4 mph flyout to center field in his first at-bat Saturday and later flew out to the warning track in right field, a day after barreling up four balls in another 0-for-4 effort.
“I’ve felt increasingly good,” Rice said after their latest defeat. “Over the last couple series, I feel like the swing has felt good and I’m hitting some balls hard, not getting rewarded for it. Just got to keep going. That’s literally the only thing you can do is just keep going. It’s all you can do in this game.”
Saturday was a grind for Cam Schlittler, but he still turned it into 5 ¹/₃ innings of one-run ball while striking out seven and walking three.
He finished the day with a 2.19 ERA, keeping pace in the AL Cy Young race before his biggest threat — Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease — takes the ball for Sunday’s series finale. Cease enters the start with a 2.40 ERA in 20 ²/₃ fewer innings than Schlittler.
While Cody Bellinger (hamstring strain) is on track to begin a rehab assignment next week, Boone was mum on when that might be the case for Giancarlo Stanton (calf strain).
The veteran DH did not make the trip to Toronto, instead staying back at Yankee Stadium to continue his running progression, which now includes the bases — the stage where Stanton re-injured himself in June.
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“I know he hit out on the field [Friday] again,” Boone said. “But I don’t know when he would be ready to start something.”
The Blue Jays placed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the seven-day concussion injured list Saturday after he left Friday’s game early following a collision with George Lombard Jr.
Boone said he spoke to the league on Friday night and Saturday morning about his ejection in the series opener — tossed by home plate umpire Vic Carapazza for arguing balls and strikes — which appeared to be among the tamer (at least initially) of his 50 career ejections.
After Friday’s loss, he called it a “tired toss” by Carapazza.
“Look, I said what I was going to say [Friday] night,” Boone said. “At the end of the day, that’s just one little part of the game, and it had nothing to do with us winning or losing last night. We got to find a way to score more. I’ve had my conversations with the league and we move on to a fresh day today.”
