ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The struggling New York Yankees have moved rookie Ben Rice into the cleanup spot as part of a lineup shakeup for Wednesday night's game at Tampa Bay.
The Yankees entered the game with a majors-worst 5-16 record since June 15. New York, still in an AL wild-card spot, had the best record at 50-22 through June 14.
Rice is just the sixth player in team history to have at least five homers in his first 19 games. The first baseman homered in Tuesday night's 5-3 loss to the Rays after becoming the first Yankees rookie to go deep three times in a game on Saturday against Boston.