NEW YORK — Years ago, a kid from Cohasset, Massachusetts, left a message on the Pesky Pole at Fenway Park. On Tuesday night, it read like a scouting report.
As a boy, Ben Rice took a tour of Boston’s ballpark. When the group reached the right-field foul pole, he left a note for the home team. He recounted the moment to MLB.com in 2025.
“We did a little tour of Fenway Park, and when we went over to the Pesky Pole, I wrote ‘Yankees Rule’ on the Pesky Pole,” he said.
He grew up about 25 miles from that pole, surrounded by Red Sox fans, idolizing Derek Jeter. He wore a Yankees jersey to first-grade picture day.
The Yankees took him out of Dartmouth in the 12th round in 2021. Scout Matt Hyde signed him. Boston’s area scout also liked him. New York got there first.
Since then, the Red Sox have seen the worst of him. In July 2024, as a rookie, Rice hit three homers against Boston in a 14-4 Yankees rout. He was the first rookie in franchise history with a three-homer game.
A year later, he homered on the first pitch of his first postseason at-bat. The opponent was Boston.
He arrived in October as the Yankees’ leading slugger. Rice hit 41 homers, blowing past manager Aaron Boone’s spring training prediction of 39. He posted an .897 OPS, fourth best in MLB, and a .975 OPS with runners in scoring position.
On Tuesday night, the kid who scribbled on the Pesky Pole wrote something far more permanent into the Yankees’ record book.
One hitter, more hits than an entire lineup
Rice went 4-for-5 with a double, two homers and six RBIs as the Yankees routed Boston 9-0 in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium.
He is the first player in Yankees history with at least four hits and six RBIs in a postseason game. His six RBIs tied the franchise postseason record.
The entire Red Sox lineup managed three hits. Rice had four by himself.
He did it with Aaron Judge off the Wild Card roster because of a strained calf. The Yankees scored nine runs without him.
Rice set the tone two batters into the game with a 110 mph double off rookie Payton Tolle. In the fifth, after Tolle left, he hit Erik Miller’s third pitch 423 feet into Monument Park for a 2-0 lead.
In the seventh, with the bases loaded and no outs, he lined an RBI single off Alec Gamboa. In the eighth, he hit a two-out grand slam off Brayan Bello into the right-center bullpen.
A tight game became a rout. Cam Schlittler, the winning pitcher, threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Tolle took the loss.
Boone, Rice and the clubhouse react
Boone has been Rice’s loudest backer. He was asked where his slugger ranks among the game’s hitters.
“Count on one hand. One of the best hitters in the league,” Boone said.
Rice was asked what he would remember from the night. He answered as the boy from Cohasset.
“I’ll remember getting a W versus the Red Sox. There’s nothing better than that,” Rice said.
Rookie George Lombard Jr., who had three hits in his own postseason debut, summed up the view from the lineup.
“He’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen. And he shows why all the time,” Lombard said.
Brayan Bello keeps running into Rice in October
Rice has now hit three career postseason homers. All three have come against the Red Sox.
Two of them came off the same pitcher. Rice’s first postseason homer, in Game 2 of last year’s Wild Card Series, was a first-inning, two-run shot off Bello. It made him the first Yankee to homer in his first career postseason at-bat since Shane Spencer in 1998.
Tuesday’s grand slam came off Bello, too. It was the 16th grand slam in Yankees postseason history.
His 11 total bases also put him in rare company. Only four Yankees have had more in a postseason game.
Most total bases in a Yankees postseason game.
| Player | Game | Total bases |
| Hideki Matsui | 2004 ALCS Game 3 | 13 |
| Babe Ruth | 1926 World Series Game 4 | 12 |
| Babe Ruth | 1928 World Series Game 4 | 12 |
| Reggie Jackson | 1977 World Series Game 6 | 12 |
| Ben Rice | 2026 AL Wild Card Game 1 | 11 |
From Judge understudy to October centerpiece
The season was not smooth. Rice hit .184 with a .641 OPS in August. He rebounded to hit .333 (34-for-102) over the final stretch, carrying the lineup while Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were hurt.
Boone pointed to that recovery.
“That’s the thing you love to see. For as great a year as he had, he had a stretch there for a month where it was really a grind and a struggle, but he kind of got himself out of it,” Boone said.
Rice is not replacing Judge. But Tuesday showed the Yankees no longer depend on Judge as their only lineup-changing power bat.
The Yankees lead the best-of-three series 1-0. Max Fried faces Sonny Gray in Game 2 at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday. A win sends them to the ALDS against Tampa Bay.
For the Red Sox, the scouting report on Rice is now written. The kid from Cohasset told them years ago.
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