ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Ben Rice hit two homers and drove in five runs, Austin Wells also went deep and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 12-4 Thursday to split a four-game series between the AL’s top two teams.
Junior Caminero connected for the Rays, who have a four-game lead over the Yankees in the East.
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Tampa Bay Rays catcher Nick Fortes watches as New York Yankees' Ryan McMahon hits an RBI double during the third inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 9, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen reacts after New York Yankees' Ben Rice's two-run home run is upheld during the third inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 9, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
New York Yankees José Caballero runs to first for an RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday, July 9, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
New York Yankees' Ben Rice rounds the bases after his three-run homer during the third inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
New York Yankees' Ben Rice celebrates after his two-run home run is upheld during the third inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday, July 9, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Both Rice and Caminero will compete in the Home Run Derby in Philadelphia on Monday night.
The injury-riddled Yankees improved to 15-19 without three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge, who will have his injured right rib reimaged next week.
The Yankees won for just the third time in 14 games. They’ve lost seven games in the standings in that span as the Rays have gone 10-4.
Tampa Bay’s pitchers had 45 strikeouts and only two walks in the first three games of the series before New York’s slumping hitters broke out with 14 hits and 12 runs.
Thursday's win had the most runs and hits in a game for the Yankees since a 12-2 victory over the White Sox on June 16.
The Yankees chased All-Star Drew Rasmussen (7-5) with five straight hits during a six-run third inning.
Trent Grisham’s RBI single gave New York a 2-1 lead and Rice followed with a two-run drive to right.
Rasmussen then gave up consecutive infield singles and left after Jose Caballero’s RBI single. The right-hander allowed six runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. His ERA rose from 2.73 to 3.26.
Rasmussen came in with an 0.89 ERA — five earned runs in 50 2/3 innings — against New York. It was the lowest for a pitcher against any opponent in major league history since earned runs became an official stat in 1913.
Reliever Paul Blackburn started for the Yankees, who used seven pitchers in a bullpen game. Blackburn gave up one run in two innings. Ryan Yarbrough (1-0) tossed a scoreless inning for the win.
Rice hit his 28th homer, a towering, three-run shot to right-center, off Casey Legumina in the sixth to extend New York’s lead to 10-3. He's second in the AL behind Houston's Yordan Alvarez, who has 29. Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber leads the majors with 32 going into Thursday night's game at Cincinnati.
Caminero hit his 27th homer 438 feet the opposite way to right-center in the first.
Wells ended a 23-game homerless streak with his first since May 22, also against the Rays.
Yankees: LHP Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.29 ERA) starts Friday at Washington.
Rays: RHP Nick Martinez (7-2, 2.61) goes to the mound against Seattle.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Tampa Bay Rays catcher Nick Fortes watches as New York Yankees' Ryan McMahon hits an RBI double during the third inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 9, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen reacts after New York Yankees' Ben Rice's two-run home run is upheld during the third inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 9, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
New York Yankees José Caballero runs to first for an RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday, July 9, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
New York Yankees' Ben Rice rounds the bases after his three-run homer during the third inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
New York Yankees' Ben Rice celebrates after his two-run home run is upheld during the third inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday, July 9, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.
David Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea through one of his attorneys during his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court. Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of property destruction.
Before the country's 250th independence celebrations, President Donald Trump launched a multimillion dollar renovation project for the Reflecting Pool, which was plagued by problems, including damage to its new coating. Trump, without providing evidence, has alleged the damage was caused by vandals.
Hearn has said he reached inside the pool to examine the peeled sealant and let go of a chunk when he was told to by a park worker. He is accused of causing more than $1,000 in damage.
“Every American should be alarmed about this prosecution,” defense attorney Norm Eisen said after the hearing. “It is not a crime to touch the Reflecting Pool.”
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said vandalizing the nation's monuments and public spaces is “an affront to our shared history.”
“The law applies equally to everyone, and when it is broken, there are consequences," she said in a statement on Thursday.
In front of a packed courtroom, D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean did not require Hearn to be supervised by the court while he is free awaiting a trial. A status hearing was scheduled for Aug. 5.
A prosecutor, Kevin Reddington, said the government wasn’t seeking any court supervision for Hearn, but just a “stay-away order” without specifying in court where it wanted to keep Hearn away from.
Mary Dohrmann, one of Hearn’s attorneys, urged the judge not to impose any conditions of court supervision, calling Hearn an “upstanding citizen and member of the community.”
“The government’s evidence is weak,” she added.
Dozens of supporters, many carrying homemade signs, gathered outside the courthouse and chanted “Davey!” as Hearn left after the hearing. Hearn joined his attorneys in front of a bank of cameras and smiled to supporters but did not speak. He raised his right hand and pumped his fist as he left.
Adam Van Grack, who chaired the U.S. Olympic national governing body for canoe and kayak sports, joined the throng of supporters who cheered for Hearn after the hearing. Van Grack said Hearn has spent decades voluntarily maintaining National Park Service property that the canoeists used as a training course along the Potomac River.
“This is a person who has devoted his life to representing the United States on an international stage, caring for the community and protecting and caring for National Park Service property,” Van Grack said. “So the idea that he is a malicious destroyer of federal property shocks the conscience and makes no sense to anybody who’s ever known Davey Hearn.”
Hearn previously told The Associated Press that he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile (103 kilometer) bike ride on June 19. He said he reached in to examine newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.
The pool's renovation has been riddled with problems. Workers have used devices called nanobubblers to curtail an algae bloom. The devices infuse ozone into the water to kill algae and bacteria. Officials have said the pool most likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.
Trump has claimed without substantiation that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. Pirro, a former Fox News host who was appointed by Trump, said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16 million pool project.
Pirro accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by ripping up recently installed sealant from the pool and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.
Hearn’s attorneys have said the charges against him are based on a “concocted narrative” and “should be alarming to every American.”
“This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures,” the lawyers said in a statement. “The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly and AP video journalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.
Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, second from left, with his attorney Norman Eisen, right, depart the D.C. Superior Court after pleading not guilty to allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Nadine Seiler arrives in an inflatable frog costume, to support former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, before he arrives at D.C. Superior Court, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, center, and his attorney Norman Eisen, left, walk to a car following a court appearance, where he pleaded not guilty to allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, left, listens as his attorney Norman Eisen, right, speaks after he pleaded not guilty to allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Visitors on the National Mall walk around the Reflecting Pool, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The Washington Monument, reflected in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, is seen behind fencing, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Workers pick up trash along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
