New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice had the largest recreation of his nascent big-league profession on Saturday, homering 3 times and driving in seven runs as a part of a 14-4 win towards the Boston Purple Sox (field rating) and getting into his identify into the file books within the course of. In complete, Rice went 3-for-5 on the afternoon.

Rice, stationed atop the Yankees lineup for the third consecutive recreation, grew to become the second rookie in franchise historical past to ever launch a leadoff house run towards the Purple Sox. Beforehand, that feat had been completed solely by the well-named Hen Hawks, in keeping with YES Community studio researcher Maxwell Kravatz. (Lest anybody suppose the baseball gods lack a humorousness, we’ll word that Hen and Rice at the moment are perpetually linked collectively.)

What’s extra is that, per MLB’s Sarah Langs, Rice grew to become the third rookie to homer thrice from the leadoff spot. the others? Andrew McCutchen (2009) and Mike Yastrzemski (2019)

Here is a take a look at every of Rice’s three house runs on Saturday:

Rice’s first house run had a 105.1 mph exit velocity and carried 390 toes; his second had marks of 103.7 mph and 406 toes; and his third checked in at 110.8 mph and 406 toes. For these not keen on doing math, meaning Rice delivered greater than 1,202 toes in house runs on Saturday alone.

Rice, 25, entered Saturday having hit .261/.364/.391 (115 OPS+) with one house run and three doubles over the course of his first 16 video games. He had additionally walked as many instances as he had struck out (eight) in 55 plate appearances. Rice was promoted to the majors after veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo fractured his forearm, requiring a stint on the injured record.

The Yankees initially drafted Rice within the twelfth spherical of the 2021 class by the use of Dartmouth Faculty.

The Yankees’ victory improved their file to 55-36 on the 12 months. It additionally marks their first victory of the brand new month, having beforehand dropped their first 4 video games of July. The Yankees and Purple Sox will now wrap up their weekend set on Sunday night time.