It was another tough loss for the Yankees and Clay Holmes on Tuesday night in Arlington.
With a 4-3 lead, Holmes came in looking for his 30th save of the season but the right-hander just couldn’t find his location in an eventual 7-4 loss to the Rangers after the Yankees closer allowed a walk-off grand slam to Wyatt Langford.
Tuesday was Holmes’ MLB-leading 11th blown save of the season and it prompted the media to ask manager Aaron Boone about whether the team needs to go in another direction when it comes to who is closing games down the stretch.
“I’m not going to answer that right now when we’re raw and emotional,” Boone said. “We’ll talk through it and do what we think is the best thing.”
It wasn’t long ago when Holmes’ ability to close games was questioned after the 31-year-old blew his 10th save of the season during the Little League Classic against the Detroit Tigers in mid-August.
Boone in the days after that game the organization was open to using Holmes earlier in games, but that didn’t come to fruition. In fact, Holmes in the five appearances since that game entering Tuesday, the closer was 3-for-3 in save opportunities and hadn’t allowed a run.
But in sports, especially baseball, it’s about “what you’ve done for me lately” and Holmes’ continues to be on the wrong end of that.
“I think he handles all this very well, he’s tough-minded for it,” Boone said of Holmes’ mindset after the loss. “But obviously some tough ones here of late and we got to support him and make sure he’s right and a big part of what we’re doing back there.”
Boone said Holmes just couldn’t put away batters, especially in 3-2 counts. The Yankees closer thinks he knows what happened in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s game.
“Lost the delivery there. Lost a feel for the sinker, spin was just leaving it up. I think I was getting a little too quick and the command went with that,” Holmes explained after the game. “That one hurt, that was a tough one but you have to bounce back and show what you’re made of tomorrow.”
Holmes said even though he didn’t have his best stuff, you have to make a pitch and get out of innings, something he is capable of doing and Boone felt his closer could get it despite the lack of command.
“The force play is always in play there, and he’s going to be as good as anyone to put the ball on the ground,” Boone said on whether he considered a quick hook for Holmes in the ninth. “And obviously we used up quite a bit of our pen there.”
Unfortunately for the Yankees, that pitch never came. After getting the first out, the next three Rangers got on base via a single and two walks before Langford’s grand slam.
“There’s been times I’ve thrown well and gotten beat. Obviously, tonight was one of those where I didn’t throw very well,” Holmes said. “Wasn’t very good at all and definitely didn’t deserve to come out on top the way I was throwing.”
The Yankees’ loss coupled with the Orioles’ win earlier in the evening now has New York 0.5 games behind Baltimore for the AL East lead.
Although there are still plenty of games to decide the division, the Yankees can’t feel too good about their ninth-inning situation heading into the postseason whether as a division-winner or Wild Card, which is a shame since, by a lot of metrics, Holmes is having a really good season.
Entering Tuesday, Holmes had already converted a career-high in saves (29) and his 2.63 ERA was the second-lowest of his career. But those 11 blown saves stand out and could matter when it comes to a playoff series.
Since GM Brian Cashman did not trade for another closer option at the deadline, the Yankees are now forced to either mix and match the final inning or roll with Holmes. And while the times Holmes is good, he’s really good, the blown saves are starting to pile up and it could cost the team more than the division.
“Stuff’s there, feel like he’s throwing the ball well. Tonight was a struggle obviously,” Boone said when asked about his confidence in Holmes. “He’s really important to us down there. We need his excellence to be part of the group down there. This is a tough one.”
The Yankees wrap up their series with the Rangers on Wednesday evening followed by an off day before traveling to Chicago to take on the Cubs. Who will close games for the Yankees this weekend? We’ll have to wait and see.
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