New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has praised a “great team effort” after his team won as the visitors to their Steinbrenner Field spring training base.
The Yankees are top of the American League East following a 6-3 MLB triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays, helped by an impressive performance from baseman Ben Rice.
“Position players just at bats grinding away [and] the bullpen coming under huge, to different degrees,” Boone said, explaining the key elements of the victory.
“[Ryan] Yarborough got us to the middle innings and then Timmy [Hill] and Hammy [Ian Hamilton] and Devin [Williams] finished it off. It’s a feelgood one, right there.”
Welcome to the Rice Age 🍚 pic.twitter.com/8jUVo3VOaM
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 18, 2025
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New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays
Rice recorded his first big league four-hit game and two runs, while Oswaldo Cabrera hit a solo homer as the Yankees recovered from 3-1 behind.
“He can really hit,” Boone said of Rice after their side extended their winning run to four games. “He’s doing a lot of damage and he smoked three of them.”
“The bullpen did a great job tonight, keeping us in it the whole way,” said Rice. “They kept putting us in a position to put some runs up”.
Waldo Wallop 💪 pic.twitter.com/sIaYQS2sw1
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 18, 2025
Ben Rice: Yankees ‘did our thing’
The Rays are using Steinbrenner Field after Hurricane Milton tore off the roof panels at Tropicana Field in on October 9.
“It was a great environment… a ton of Yankees fans,” said Boone. “The Yankees and Rays have done a great job of getting this ready but I didn’t like my seat.. all of it was weird.”
Rice partially echoed his sentiments. “The only weird part was being on the other side of the field,” he reflected. “The game itself is the same thing. It’s just another away game and we did our thing.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr received his fifth career ejection and first with the Yankees after arguing with plate umpire John Bacon after a called third strike.
The teams meet in the same setting on Friday (19:05 ET), Saturday (16:10) and Sunday (13:40).
