New York Yankees Joel Sherman The all-important at-bat that de-stressed the Yankees — and could be pivotal for rest of the year By Joel Sherman Published July 9, 2026, 8:21 p.m. ET Ryan McMahon rips an RBI double as Tampa Bay catcher Nick Fortes looks on during the third inning of the Yankees' 12-4 blowout win over the Rays on July 9, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Fla. AP By the end, Ben Rice had the kind of performance you put on your AL MVP résumé.
Austin Wells had his best at-bat in months — and there actually was a dispute about which one.
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Angel Chivilli delivered the kind of overwhelming bullpen-saving effort — in a bullpen game — to perhaps improve his status within the relief realm.
But all of that occurred after Ryan McMahon authored arguably the most important at-bat of this Yankees season to date when you put into context the count, the length, the outcome, who was starting for both teams and just where his club was and what it was feeling with no out and one on in the second inning Thursday.
