Ben Rice's extra-inning grand slam lifts Yankees past Orioles

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Sep 21, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — The New York Yankees ended their final road trip of the regular season with a 7-1, 10-inning win over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, securing a four-game series victory after Ben Rice smoked a grand slam in the final frame.

The go-ahead blast came in a left-on-left matchup, as Rice’s fourth hit of the game deposited a Keegan Akin fastball over the right-center field wall. The Orioles southpaw had Rice down, 1-2, in the count, but he fired his heater down the heart of the plate.

Rice now has 24 homers this season, as well as two career grand slams.

The Yankees weren’t done there, as Jazz Chisholm Jr., another port-side swinger, followed with a solo homer off Akin before the pitcher’s nightmarish 10th inning came to an end. Anthony Volpe then added an RBI single off Yaramil Hiraldo for good measure.

The Yankees, in possession of the American League’s top wild-card spot with six games left in the regular season, remain two games behind the Blue Jays for the AL East lead, as Toronto beat Kansas City to clinch a playoff berth on Sunday. The Jays also hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Yankees.

Prior to Rice’s heroics, Sunday’s game in Baltimore also saw Cam Schlittler strengthen his case to be the Yankees’ No. 3 postseason starter, as fellow rookie Will Warren and Luis Gil are also in consideration.

Schlittler, making just the 13th start of his career, held the Orioles to one earned run over 5 1/3 innings. He also limited Baltimore to three hits while walking one and striking out six over 89 pitches.

Schlittler’s lone mistake came on a first-pitch curveball to Samuel Basallo in the fifth, as the catcher pulled the breaking ball for a solo home run.

The Yankees tied the game up at one in the sixth, though, as Rice lined a two-out, RBI single off O’s starter Kyle Bradish. That put two men on for Jasson Domínguez, who drove a sharp line drive to the left-center gap. Unfortunately for the Yankees, left fielder Dylan Carlson made a nice running catch in front of the wall.

The Yankees left runners on again in the seventh after José Caballero reached on a one-out single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Paul Goldschmidt followed with a soft groundout, and the Orioles intentionally walked pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton before Dietrich Enns fanned Trent Grisham.

Baltimore had a chance to tack on in the seventh, but Luke Weaver escaped a bases-loaded jam by inducing a groundout from Jackson Holliday. Former Yankee Rico Garcia then worked out of bases-loaded trouble for Baltimore in the eighth.

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