Rice, who finished 4-for-5 with five RBIs, smoked the game’s biggest swing when he turned on a 95.2 mph fastball from left-hander Keegan Akin and sent it 410 feet into the right-center-field seats. The slam, his second career grand slam and 24th homer of the season, broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Yankees their first lead of the afternoon. The ball left Rice’s bat at 110.3 mph and made him the first Yankee since Josh Donaldson in 2022 to hit an extra-inning grand slam.

The 26-year-old catcher/first baseman has now posted 24 homers, 62 RBIs, an .823 OPS, and a 129 wRC+ in his first full major league season, proving himself as one of New York’s most reliable left-handed bats. His sixth-inning RBI single had earlier tied the game after Samuel Basallo’s solo homer gave Baltimore a short-lived lead in the fifth.

The Yankees’ offense, held to just five hits through nine innings, erupted in the 10th. Following Rice’s slam, Jazz Chisholm Jr. added his 31st homer of the season with a solo shot, Anthony Volpe tacked on an RBI single, and New York finished with 10 total hits. The late surge chased Akin from the game and handed Baltimore its 83rd loss of the season.

On the pitching side, rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler strengthened his case for a postseason rotation spot. Making his 13th career start, Schlittler worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits with one walk and six strikeouts across 89 pitches. His fastball sat at 98 mph and reached 100.3 mph. The lone blemish was Basallo’s fourth home run of the year. Schlittler lowered his ERA to 3.27 in 66 innings and bounced back after entering the game with a 6.57 ERA in September.

The bullpen preserved the tie until the offense broke through. Tim Hill, Fernando Cruz, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, and David Bednar combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Williams, on his 31st birthday, struck out the side in the eighth, while Bednar improved to 6-5 on the season and 4-0 since joining the Yankees by tossing a clean ninth. Camilo Doval closed the game in the 10th, stranding the bases loaded by striking out Ryan Mountcastle.

Kyle Bradish matched Schlittler for much of the afternoon, striking out nine over six innings for Baltimore while yielding two hits and one run.

The win sealed the Yankees’ (88-68) a 3-1 series victory and kept them two games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East. New York holds the top Wild Card spot entering the season’s final week and has gone 28-14 since August 6, the best record in MLB over that span.

After Monday’s off day, the Yankees will return to the Bronx for their last homestand, beginning with a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox before facing the Orioles again to close the regular season.