The New York Yankees made a change to Ben Rice ahead of their series finale against the Detroit Tigers.
New York is looking to avoid being swept by the Tigers, as the Yankees have lost six straight games after a four-game sweep by the Boston Red Sox. So, ahead of the series finale, the Yankees announced their lineup, and Rice is now leading off and playing first after hitting third and being the DH on Tuesday.
The Yankees’ lineup is as follows:
- B. Rice 1B
- J. Domínguez RF
- C. Bellinger LF
- A. Rosario DH
- J. Chisholm Jr. 2B
- A. Volpe SS
- A. Wells C
- J. Caballero CF
- O. Cabrera 3B
With right-handed pitcher Troy Melton on the mound, the Yankees are turning to Rice to lead off the game.
Rice hit a home run in Tuesday’s 9-3 loss to the Tigers. The slugger is hitting .268 with 23 home runs and 54 RBIs this season.
Yankees Struggling as of Late
New York has struggled as of late, as the Yankees have now lost six-straight games and are on the verge of being swept in back-to-back series.
Yet, after Tuesday’s blowout loss to the Tigers, Rice was adamant that the team would get out of the rough stretch.
“We know we have a lot of talent,” Rice said. “It’s such a long season. It just so happens that right now, it’s kind of like the whole team is going through something all at once.”
Yankees starter Cam Schlittler was shelled on Tuesday, and he vented his frustration about his outing and how the team is playing.
“It’s frustrating. We’re just not playing good ball right now,” Schlittler said. “It’s my job to come in here and try and stop that bleeding, and I couldn’t get that done. It’s taken a while to experience an outing like that, so I’ve just got to take what I can from it and get ready for next week.”
The Yankees are now 48-37 and 2.5 games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the top spot in the AL East.
“Everyone’s pissed,” Anthony Volpe said. “We’ve just got to do what we’ve got to do, and do our jobs to get a win. It starts from there.”
New York Gets Aaron Judge Update
A key part of New York’s losing streak is the fact that the team is without Aaron Judge.
Judge remains on the IL, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave an update on his status on “Talkin’ Yanks” on Tuesday.
“The feedback this week has been good,” Boone said at Yankee Stadium. “I feel like he’s starting to feel better, which is good. He was uncomfortable there for a while. It seems like the normal stuff is starting to feel better, so hopefully that’s a good sign of some healing.”
Judge has been out of the lineup since June 2 and was placed on the IL on June 5.
Yankees Make Ben Rice Change Before Tigers Series Finale