BOSTON — After a rare rough night at the plate, Ben Rice got a rarer day off.
The Yankees slugger was out of the lineup Friday for a 6-1 loss against the Red Sox for the first time since May 7, the last of four straight games he missed with a left hand contusion. He went 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter.
“Feel like he’s been grinding a little bit this week, just in this long stretch of lefties, felt like with him getting a day that opens up some different lanes for people,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees were shut down by lefty Payton Tolle.
Rice entered the game as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning but grounded out.
Boone said that Rice was “doing well” physically, but just wanted to give him a breather after he went 0-for-5 on Thursday — with all five at-bats coming against lefties and four of them with runners in scoring position.
Tolle marked the eighth lefty the Yankees have faced in the past 12 games.
Over the past four games, Rice was hitting just 2-for-18, an uncommon blip in what has otherwise been a standout season — his .956 OPS still ranking sixth among all qualified hitters coming into the night.
“I think it’s a few days,” Boone said. “Been pitched tough by some tough lefties. We’re in this crazy stretch of so many lefties in very few days. I don’t think there’s much to it at all.”
Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton joined the Yankees at Fenway Park on Thursday, but that was not an indication that either of them are anywhere close to a return.
Next week will mark four weeks since Judge was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his first right rib, at which point the Yankees said he would be “re-imaged in approximately 4-6 weeks.”
But it does not sound like there are plans to check on Judge’s rib next week.
“I know right now, probably not ready to go down that road yet, just with where he’s at,” Boone said. “But I don’t know when we’re re-imaging.”
Stanton, meanwhile, has just started to move around again after suffering a setback in his right calf earlier this month while running the bases, when he was just a few days away from a potential return.
“G’s doing a little bit better and a little more ramped up,” Boone said, without providing much in the way of specifics.
Still, Boone said having Judge and Stanton around would provide a lift.
“Sight for sore eyes seeing those guys walk in the door with what they mean to our team,” he said. “Just happy to have them here.”
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Ali Sánchez was activated off the paternity list Friday and went right into the lineup against Tolle, going 0-for-2 before being pinch hit for by Austin Wells in the eighth.
The right-handed hitting catcher has been solid in limited playing time, entering the night batting .316 with an .802 OPS and three RBIs in 21 plate appearances.
“I’ve been really pleased with Ali,” Boone said. “He’s provided a little spark at the plate. He’s had some good offensive games where he’s swung the bat pretty well for us. Kind of a bonus there. But I really like how he’s come in and done a good job behind the plate. Feel like he’s come in and fit in the room nicely. He’s got a good presence to him. So I’ve been happy with that.”