“Benny Barrels” absolutely lived up to his nickname Tuesday night. Ben Rice went off, dominating at the plate with a massive performance that saw him tie a Yankees playoff record for runs driven in.
A Grand Slam to Cap a Wild Night
Rice wasn’t just good, he was *unreal*. He blasted two home runs, one of them a grand slam, plus tacked on a double and a single. That’s four hits in total, and it was enough to put the Red Sox on their heels fast. The grand slam capped off an amazing night, giving the Yankees a commanding 9-0 lead in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium. Talk about making a statement right from the jump, huh?
Record-Tying Performance Ignites the Wild Card
When they started tracking runs driven in back in 1920, nobody could have predicted a night like this for Rice. His six RBI tied for the most in any Yankees playoff game ever, according to the NBC telecast. Six RBI! That’s just wild. He almost single-handedly buried the Red Sox in that opening game. You gotta wonder how Boston even begins to recover after a beatdown like that, with one dude going completely nuclear at the plate.
What a way to kick off a Wild Card Series. With the Yankees already up 9-0 in Game 1 thanks to Rice’s heroics, the momentum is all theirs. You know Boston’s gotta be shaking their heads after that, looking ahead to Game 2 and wondering how they stop “Benny Barrels” from doing it all over again. This series just got a whole lot more interesting after that absolute bomb dropped on Tuesday night.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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