Ben Rice did the big stuff well on a historic Saturday afternoon during which the rookie blasted three home runs.
Much of the rest of the Yankees’ lineup did the little stuff.
“Those little things were huge,” manager Aaron Boone said with a trace of irony after the Yankees’ 14-4 breakout win over the Red Sox in The Bronx.
A struggling lineup turned to Rice, who accounted for seven RBIs on a day for the record books.
But there were positive signs up and down the lineup outside of its leadoff hitter.
The Yankees trailed, 4-3, entering the bottom of the fifth when the little things began popping up.
After Aaron Judge’s single, Alex Verdugo dropped down a gorgeous and effective bunt down the third-base line to reach safely.
“I thought Dugie’s bunt was huge,” Boone said of the at-bat against southpaw Brennan Bernardino. “Left on left. Kind of continuing a rally and led to an even bigger inning.”
Anthony Volpe followed with an RBI, ground-rule double that hopped over the center-field wall.
Trent Grisham got ahead 2-0 before Boston gave up and intentionally walked him to load the bases.
In a game the Yankees would win by 10 runs, the go-ahead run scored on a bases-loaded walk.
Boone opted for a pinch-hitting Austin Wells over Jose Trevino, and Wells — facing former Yankees righty Greg Weissert — fought for an eight-pitch walk.
Oswaldo Cabrera followed by fighting back from an 0-2 hole to lift a sacrifice fly to right.
“I thought the two-strike at-bat from Cabrera, getting a sac fly where he smokes the ball to right field [was big],” said Boone, who watched DJ LeMahieu follow with his first of two RBI singles on the afternoon.
Rice did most of the heavy lifting, but the rest of the lineup carried its weight, too.
For a second time this season, Juan Soto struck out on a pitch-clock violation.
Soto was granted timeout by home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez in the fifth inning but did not get back into the box and meet the pitcher’s gaze in time.
“I think Alfonso told him to stay in the dirt,” Boone said. “He was kind of having a conversation with him. I don’t know — I feel like you got to have some better feel there in that situation. As long as [the timeout is] not going long.”
Boone added that Soto, too, “has got to be aware” of the situation.
Tim Hill and Josh Maciejewski combined to throw 4 ²/₃ scoreless, one-hit innings out of the bullpen.
Gleyber Torres was out of the starting lineup after leaving Friday’s game with right groin tightness.
The second baseman “seemed pretty good” Friday night, Boone said, and he anticipated Torres would be back in Sunday’s lineup.
Cabrera started at second base after Torres aggravated the injury in beating out an infield single.
Scott Effross is “getting closer,” Boone said, after the reliever pitched in a sixth rehab game Friday.
The righty, who has not pitched since 2022 because of first Tommy John surgery and then December 2023 back surgery, has allowed three earned runs in 7 ¹/₃ innings with Low-A Tampa and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in stints as long as two innings and as short as one.
Boone said Effross will need “a long runway,” so he is not on the cusp.
The 30-year-old has yet to pitch on back-to-back days, but Boone said the club may not ask him to clear that hurdle before calling him up.
Cody Poteet “is in the early stages” of throwing, Boone said.
The righty has not yet graduated to a mound.
Poteet suffered a triceps strain that has sidelined him since June 12.