Ben Rice nearly gave Yankee Stadium the jolt it wanted on Friday night, but the play that followed became the bigger talking point in the Yankees’ 2-1 loss to the Dodgers.
With New York down a run in the eighth inning in its first game back from the All-Star break, Rice turned on a slider from Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia and sent a drive toward right-center. The ball hit off the wall near the “385 ft” sign and stayed in the park, but it still set off a frantic sequence that ended with Trent Grisham being thrown out at the plate as he tried to score the tying run.
“I thought he got it good,” said Grisham, who was on first base. “As soon as I saw the direction and where the outfielders were, I figured they weren’t catching it.”
Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages got to the ball and relayed it to Mookie Betts, whose throw to the plate beat Grisham by a hair. The Yankees left two runners on in that inning, then went down in order in the ninth to finish the night with a one-run loss.
The decision to send Grisham was the one Aaron Boone had to defend afterward. Boone said he understood the aggressiveness, even with Paul Goldschmidt due up next and left-hander Vesia still on the mound.
“I think he was holding him up, and then I think he read the throw pretty well,” Boone said postgame. “So you’re making a split-second decision.
A lot of times, you’ve got to push the envelope a little bit with one out. Obviously, no outs is very different.
…They might go to the righty there, or they walk [Goldschmidt] anyway. But I thought it was a decisive decision where he was probably holding [Grisham], but read the throw properly, and you got Mookie on the run, throwing.
You’d hate to leave that run on the table with the guy running off balance. [Betts] made a play, but I don’t have an issue with that.”
Grisham, who said there was no confusion on the bases, pushed back on the idea that he missed a signal from third-base coach Luis Rojas.
“Yeah, I picked him up great,” Grisham said.
“No, I don’t think so,” he added when asked again whether there had been any confusion between him and Rojas.
The Yankees’ leadoff hitter also said the hamstring injury that cost him 19 games earlier this month was not a factor on the play. Grisham returned on July 3 after a right hamstring injury and said he felt fine on the first-to-home sprint.
“I’m conscious,” Grisham said. “I’m coming back from it, but I had a good rehab, and it went well. I feel good now.”
Rice’s near-miss was especially notable after his earlier-week Home Run Derby showing, when he was eliminated in the first round with just seven homers. This time, his swing nearly changed the game.
The Yankees did at least get a small boost in the AL East standings despite the defeat. After the Rays were swept in a doubleheader by the Red Sox on Friday, New York picked up a half-game in the division race.
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