Clay Holmes entered to the sound of dissatisfaction and left to thunderous applause.
A few minutes later, the Yankees celebrated another walk-off win.
Holmes entered the game in the top of the 10th inning on Thursday with the score tied and a runner on second base, and quickly retired two batters before giving the Yankees a chance to take the lead on a walk-off hit by Juan Soto in the bottom of the inning.
“I felt good pitching,” Holmes said after the team's 2-1 win over the Red Sox. “All of our pitchers did a really good job today. … They mean a lot to me, and I just want to keep pitching and beating them.”
In the little more than a week since being removed from the closer role after failing to record his 11th save of the year, Holmes has pitched three times, pitching two scoreless innings — once in the eighth inning of a 2-1 loss Sunday and twice on Thursday.
In between, he lost a one-run lead in the seventh inning of Wednesday's game against the Royals.
But the right-hander looked good for the second night in a row on Thursday, getting Sedan Rafaela to ground out and Jalen Duran to fly out, both on 0-2 counts.
“He wants the ball and, obviously, he's confident in what he can do out there,” coach Aaron Boone said. “Despite some things that have happened and some games that haven't gone his way, I really like his mindset and his ability to navigate the inevitable ups and downs.”
Holmes' 10th inning rounded out a strong bullpen that included Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill and Tommy Kahnle.
“Me and [Jose Trevino] “We said last week, 'Clay is going to be there for us when we need him most,'” said Nestor Cortez, who started Thursday's game. “Whether it's the seventh, eighth, ninth inning, extra innings, Clay has the ability to do it. We've trusted him all year.”
Aaron Judge came within a few feet of ending his home run streak on Thursday, extending his home run streak to a career-high 16 games.
He went 1-for-4 and had one hit stolen on a diving play by Rafael Devers that led to a double play.
“He's got 51 home runs,” Boone said. “Even with a guy like him, those home runs happen, they happen. I think it's amazing that he's been able to avoid them, but it's just a testament to how good a hitter he is and how much power he has. He had a good at-bat tonight and I think he came close to hitting one more.”
The Yankees added left-handed relief pitcher Anthony Misievich, who was designated for assignment on Monday, to their Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster after he cleared waivers.
