Ben Rice spent Tuesday’s wild-card opener against his hometown Red Sox on the bench.

He didn’t wait long to make his presence felt in Game 2.

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Rice became the first Yankee to homer in his first postseason plate appearance since Shane Spencer did it in the 1998 ALDS against Texas when he took Boston right-hander Brayan Bello deep for a two-run shot to right to spark a 4-3 win, as the Yankees forced a Game 3 at the Stadium.

“Coming off of a loss [Tuesday], to kind of set the tone for us in the first inning, to get us out to a lead felt really good,’’ Rice said of his first-pitch homer.

It cam

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