BALTIMORE — Five days after Aaron Boone declined a request for a six-out save from Clay Holmes, he asked for a five-out save.
The Yankees closer answered the call.
With the Yankees clinging to a two-run lead in the eighth inning and the Orioles on the brink of a comeback, Holmes came on the scene and secured a dominant five-out save to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead Wednesday night at Camden Yards. Finished with 0 wins.
“That’s the game,” Boone said. “And if the eighth inning is long and we have to go with another guy in the ninth, so be it. We’re at the top of their standings and we’re up against a few guys. With Clay. is one more pitch if he gets it on the ground properly. But it felt like, oh, that was the game, and we’re going to be worrying about the ninth when we get there. .”
Holmes began warming up at the start of the bottom of the eighth inning and saw Ian Hamilton put runners on first and second base before recording his first out.
Coach Boone then turned to Holmes, who had Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman on standby, and Holmes struck them out on seven pitches.
In the bottom of the 9th inning, Holmes allowed an infield hit to take the lead, but he fought back with a strikeout and two groundouts, recording his 10th save of the year.
He did not allow an earned run through 15 innings.
“Anytime you pick up a guy like that and keep runners on base, it felt good,” Holmes said. “I feel like things are moving in the right direction.”
The Yankees lost in overtime to Milwaukee on Friday. Pitcher Holmes pitched 9 innings with no runs on 10 pitches, but Manager Boone did not want to use Holmes pitcher in the bottom of the 10th inning, so he did not return to Holmes to protect the one-run lead. Due to his heavy workload, they let him serve until two innings.
But after the Yankees lost the first two games of this series against their division rivals, Boone decided on Wednesday to give Holmes more effort.
“He was really sharp,” Boone said. “Obviously, Clay is off to a great start this year and is throwing the ball incredibly well. He went in there tonight at No. 1 and No. 2 and was at the top of the five-out save standings, his I thought things were really sharp. We had a little more power with our slider and sinker tonight, but we commanded it very well.”
