Clay Holmes struggled with his sinker, his control, and possibly his position as the New York Yankees’ closer.
The two-time All-Star gave up a single and two walks before Texas rookie Wyatt Langford hit a game-ending grand slam in a 7-4 loss on Tuesday night, which moved the Yankees out of first place in the AL East for the first time in three weeks.
Holmes has now blown a major league-high 11 saves out of 40 chances, and manager Aaron Boone didn’t offer his usual support after the game when asked if he might change closers.
“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.”
After Carson Kelly’s single with one out, Holmes missed on a full-count slider, leading to walks for Josh Smith and Marcus Semien. Langford fouled off a full-count slider to stay in the game before hitting a hanging 85.8 mph slider 407 feet down the left-field line. Holmes’ blown saves are the most for the Yankees since Dave Righetti’s 13 in 1987.
“There’s been times I feel like I’ve thrown well, I’ve gotten beat,” Holmes said. “Honestly, tonight was one of those I didn’t throw very well, and wasn’t very good at all and didn’t deserve to come out on top there the way I was throwing.”
Holmes had last blown a save on August 18 against Detroit in the Major League Baseball Little League Classic. Boone said that night “he’s throwing the ball really well” and added “but right now, Clay’s the guy.”
While the manager said again Tuesday that the “stuff’s there” and Holmes has been throwing the ball well, Holmes has been having trouble finishing off batters with two strikes.
This loss was entirely on the reliever and comes at a time when the Yankees (80-59) are in a tight race with Baltimore for the division lead and the American League’s best record.
