BEN RICE drove in seven runs and scored twice as the visiting New York Yankees outslugged the St. Louis Cardinals 12-8 on Saturday night.
Rice recorded a three-run homer, a three-run double and a run batted in (RBI) single as the Yankees won for the fourth time in five games.
Aaron Judge had a homer, a double and two RBIs for New York. Trent Grisham went 4-for-5 with four runs, and Jose Caballero was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and three runs.
Yankees starter Max Fried (13-5) allowed seven runs on eight hits in five innings. David Bednar got the final out for his 20th save of the year.
Masyn Winn hit a three-run home run, Nolan Gorman had a two-run homer, and Pedro Pages belted a solo shot for the Cardinals, who lost their fourth straight.
Cardinals starter Sonny Gray (11-6) allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings.
St. Louis outfielder Victor Scott II left the game with a left ankle sprain he suffered while attempting a leaping catch on Judge’s homer.
The Yankees took 2-0 first-inning lead as Judge ripped an RBI double, followed shortly thereafter by a Jasson Dominguez run-scoring single.
The Cardinals cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on Alec Burleson’s triple and Ivan Herrera’s RBI single. St. Louis, though, surged ahead 5-2 in the second inning on Scott’s RBI single and Winn’s three-run blast.
Judge’s third-inning homer cut the deficit to 5-3. Then the Yankees moved ahead 6-5 in the fourth on Caballero’s bunt single, Grisham’s single and Rice’s three-run homer.
Austin Wells, Caballero and Grisham loaded the bases with singles in the sixth inning, setting the table for Rice’s bases-clearing double to put New York up 9-5.
The Cardinals trimmed their deficit to 9-7 in the bottom of the inning on Jordan Walker’s double and Gorman’s homer.
New York pushed its lead to 12-7 in the seventh inning on Ryan McMahon’s homer, which was followed by Rice’s RBI single and Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s sacrifice fly.
Pages’ homer in the ninth inning made it 12-8.
DODGERS WIN AGAIN
The Los Angeles Dodgers turned six walks in the first two innings into five runs and moved back into sole possession of first place in the National League West with a 6-0 victory over the visiting San Diego Padres on Saturday.
Left-hander Blake Snell (3-1) went six scoreless innings against his former club as the Dodgers won consecutive games following a four-game losing streak. Los Angeles has not won three consecutive since a four-game winning streak June 29-July 3.
Dylan Cease (5-11) struggled with his command as the Padres right-hander gave up five runs (three earned) in 3 1/3 innings. San Diego center fielder Jackson Merrill dropped a fly ball at the warning track with two outs in the second inning that led to the two unearned runs for the Dodgers.
San Diego, which moved into sole possession of first place earlier in the week, has lost seven times in nine games against the Dodgers this season.
The Dodgers took advantage of a wild Cease from the outset. Shoei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Will Smith walked in succession to open the bottom of the first. Teoscar Hernandez had a sacrifice fly for a run and Michael Conforto added a two-run single.
Ohtani and Smith also walked in the second inning then scored for a 5-0 lead when Merrill dropped Freddie Freeman’s fly ball to the warning track in right-center.
Los Angeles moved in front 6-0 in the fifth inning when Hernandez hit a home run to center off right-hander David Morgan, his 20th of the season. Hernandez has 20 home runs in each of the last seven full seasons, not counting the shortened 2020 pandemic campaign.
In his first appearance against the Padres since winning a National League Cy Young Award with them in 2023, Snell gave up five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. — Reuters
