TAMPA, Fla. (Interstat) — Ben Rice homered twice and drove in five runs, powering the New York Yankees to a 12-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon at George Steinbrenner Field in front of 18,255 fans.

The game lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes.

Rice’s second blast, a three-run shot in the sixth inning, broke open a game that New York had already seized with a six-run third. The Yankees, who had dropped the first two games of the series, improved to 51-42. The Rays fell to 54-37.

New York collected 14 hits, while Tampa Bay managed 10.

Ryan Yarbrough earned the win with one inning of scoreless relief, his first decision of the season. Drew Rasmussen took the loss, falling to 7-5 after allowing seven runs over three-plus innings.

The Rays struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Caminero hit his 27th home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center field off Yankees starter Paul Blackburn.

New York answered emphatically in the third. Max Schuemann led off with a double, and Ryan McMahon followed with a run-scoring double to tie the game. After Austin Wells flied out, Trent Grisham singled to drive in McMahon and give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

Rice then crushed a two-run homer to right field, his 27th of the year, making it 4-1. Jasson Dominguez singled, Cody Bellinger singled, and Jose Caballero singled to load the bases. Jazz Chisholm Jr. lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Dominguez and pushing the lead to 6-1.

The Rays answered in the bottom half. Blackburn walked Nick Fortes, then Yandy Diaz singled and Jonathan Aranda singled to load the bases. Caminero grounded into a double play, but Fortes scored to cut the lead to 6-2. Victor Mesa Jr. followed with a ground-rule double that scored Diaz, making it 6-3.

Austin Wells restored the four-run cushion in the fourth inning with a solo home run, his fifth of the season, to right field.

New York broke the game open in the sixth. Wells walked, Grisham doubled, and Rice crushed his second homer, a three-run shot to center field, his 28th. The blast made it 10-3.

Tampa Bay got one back in the bottom of the sixth when Chandler Simpson tripled and scored on a Ben Williamson single, but the Rays could not sustain the rally.

The Yankees added a single run in the seventh on McMahon’s run-scoring double, and another in the eighth on a Bellinger single that drove in Rice.

Blackburn pitched two innings for New York, allowing two hits, one earned run and striking out three. Brent Headrick contributed 1 2/3 innings, giving up three hits and one earned run while striking out three. Tim Hill threw a scoreless inning, and Yarbrough worked a scoreless inning for the win.

For Tampa Bay, Caminero homered and drove in two runs. Simpson tripled twice and scored a run. Mesa Jr. doubled and drove in a run.

The game marked a sharp reversal for New York, which had lost the previous two games of the series by scores of 3-0 and 6-4. The Yankees had also lost four of their previous five games entering Thursday.

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, had won four of its previous five and came in as the hotter team.

The decisive moment came in the third inning, when the Yankees sent 10 batters to the plate and turned a one-run deficit into a five-run lead. Rice’s first homer capped a sequence of four consecutive hits after the game had been tied.

Rice finished 2 for 4 with two home runs, five RBIs and a walk. Schuemann went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored. Dominguez went 2 for 4 with a walk and two runs. McMahon went 2 for 5 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run. Grisham went 2 for 5 with a double, an RBI and two runs.

Bellinger went 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run. Caballero went 1 for 4 with an RBI. Wells went 1 for 4 with a home run, an RBI and a walk.

For Tampa Bay, Williamson went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Aranda went 2 for 4 with a walk. Diaz went 2 for 5.

The Rays managed only one extra-base hit after the third inning, as the Yankees bullpen held them to one run over the final six innings.

New York will travel to Washington to face the Nationals on Friday. Tampa Bay will host Seattle on Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tampa Bay Rays 7, New York Yankees 2. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Tampa Bay with a 50.10 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 16 went under the over/under line of 7.5.