Yankees struck gold out of nowhere with Ben Rice, Cam Schlittler

The Yankees were winning big in every way, except on the scoreboard.

They were in control of their home opener Friday. Will Warren layered another strong start to what has been a historic pitching stretch to begin the season by the Yankees. They were authoring one “Savages in the Box”-type long plate appearance after another. They were seizing extra bases with aggression.

Yet they led the Marlins just 5-2 after six innings because to that point they had one hit with a runner on base in 14 at-bats and that was Aaron Judge following a Trent Grisham leadoff walk in the first with a homer. They were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and, to that point, Ben Rice was as big a culprit as any Yankee.

He had struck out in all three of his at-bats, including with the bases loaded and two outs in the second and following a Cody Bellinger leadoff double in the fifth.