Rice, Judge & The Martian Blast Orioles. NY 11 Baltimore 3

May 4, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Jasson Dominguez hits his first HR of the year -- a 2-run shot that gave NY a 6-3 lead in 8th. He hit an RBI double later in the inning from the right side.

Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, and Jasson Dominguez (aka The Martian) all hit HR’s and the Yankees added on 5 runs with a fuselage of singles in the bottom of the 8th to pummel the Orioles 11-3 on a Sunday afternoon at a chilly Yankee Stadium, game-time temps in 50’s warming to 60 by game’s end.

The Rice and Judge HR’s gave Max Fried an early 3-1 lead, but he left in the 6th in a 3-3 tie.

The Yanks pushed across a run in the bottom of the 6th on a leadoff double by The Martian and an RBI infield single by Ryan McMahon.

The game stayed 4-3 until The Martian broke it open with a 2-run HR in the bottom of the 7th to make it 6-3, then came 5 singles and a walk, and an RBI double by The Martian to make it 11-3.

The Martian ended up 3-5 with the HR and 3 RBI’s on the day. McMahon was 3 for 4. Ben Rice was 2-2 before leaving the game with a minor wrist injury after taking a pickoff throw at 1st in the 3rd. Rice leads the American League in batting average at .343.

Fernando Cruz got the win, and Brent Headrick and David Bednar pitched shutout relief.

“As I’ve always said, it’s his natural side,” said manager Aaron Boone about The Martian getting the RBI double batting right-handed in the 8th. “And when you see him hit and take BP or whatever, you can see it’s not an unnatural move — I’ve always said it’s about reps and experience.”

“I thought his stuff was great,” said Boone about Fried. “He was really stepping on some fastballs; he was ripping the cutter.” But Fried had to grind through due to “some balls that found holes on him,” added Boone.

The Yanks take the first 3 games of the 4-game set vs the Orioles, with the 4th game scheduled for Monday.

NY improves to 23-11, the best record in the AL but Tampa remains only 1.5 back as they are red hot too. Baltimore drops to 15-19.

1. Rice HR Puts NY Up 1-0

Ben Rice got the Yankees on the board with 1 out in the bottom of the 1st with a shot to right off 23-year-old, 6’6 righty Trey Gibson for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

2. Judge HR Puts NY Up 3-1

Rice doubled with 1 out in the 3rd and Aaron Judge — who had just made a tremendous leaping catch at the rightfield wall in the top of the 3rd (below) — hit a Bomb to center to put NY up 3-1.

3. Fried Good But Things Don’t Go His Way

Fried pitched a shutout 1st and struck out the side in the 2nd, then allowed a single to 3rd baseman Weston Wilson leading off the 3rd. He tried to pick Wilson off — and the ball hit Ben Rice’s glove in just the wrong way as to cause a stinger. Rice would come out of the game after the inning was over.

Wilson then stole 2nd and scored on a bloop single to right by shortstop Blaze Alexander for a 1-1 game.

Aaron Judge then saved Fried with a leaping catch at the wall in right off the bat of Taylor Ward– Judge had made an almost identical catch the day before to help Ryan Weathers.

Judge then hit his HR in the bottom of the 3rd to put NY up 3-1.

But Fried got into more trouble in the 4th — a leadoff double by Pete Alonso, a walk to Tyler O’Neil, and an infield single by Coby Mayo loaded the bases with nobody out. Centerfielder Leody Taveras reached on an infield single, scoring a run to make it a 3-2 game — bases still loaded with nobody out.

But Fried rebounded — getting 2nd baseman Jeremiah Jackson to hit into a double play, tying the game 3-3, and then striking out Wilson to end the inning.

Fried pitched a shutout 5th, but a throwing error by McMahon at 3rd put the leadoff batter (O’Neill) on in the 6th, and an out and walk later and Fried was relieved with runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out in a 3-3 game.

4. Cruz Gets Big DP in 6th

Fernando Cruz came into the 1st and 2nd, 1 out situation, and got Jeremiah Jackson to hit into an inning-ending double play, keeping the score 3-3.

5. The Martian & McMahon Hook Up for 4-3 Yankee Lead

Jasson Dominguez then led off the bottom of the 6th with a double to left off reliever Grant Wolfram, Austin Wells worked back from an 0-2 count to hit a grounder towards 2nd advancing The Martian to 3rd, and Ryan McMahon reached on an infield single to put NY up 4-3.

6. Headrick Holds Court

Fernando Cruz allowed a leadoff single in the 7th, but got a groundout and Brent Headrick came in with the tying run on 2nd and 1 out.

Headrick did good — getting a comebacker groundout and a groundout to 2nd to end the inning.

Headrick allowed a leadoff single to Pete Alonso in the top of the 8th of the 4-3 game, but struck out Tyler O’Neil and got Mayo to ground into a DP to send the game to the bottom of the 8th.

7. The Martian 2-Run HR, RBI Double Highlight 7-Run 8th

And that is when the Yanks put it away. Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off with a single off Andrew Kittredge, and Jasson Dominguez hit a 348-foot homer to right center for a 6-3 Yankee lead.

Next came:

  • Single by Austin Wells to center
  • Single by McMahon to right,
  • Bunt single by Jose Caballero,
  • Sac fly by Trent Grisham for a 7-3 Yankee lead
  • Caballero and McMahon did a double steal of 2nd and 3rd,
  • Paul Goldschmidt singled to center for 2 runs and a 9-3 lead
  • Aaron Judge singled to left — sending Kittredge to the showers.

Dietrich Ennis came in and:

  • Cody Bellinger walked,
  • Jazz Chisholm hit a sac fly for a 10-3 game, and
  • Jasson Dominguez ripped a double to left — batting from the right side — for an 11-3 game.

8. Bednar Cleans Up

David Bednar got some work in, pitching a shutout 9th — pop out, single, strike out, strike out for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401815187

 

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