Here was Holmes, unwitting face of the Yankees’ most critical crisis of the year, working the bottom of the eighth.
There were still six outs left. Gerrit Cole had gotten the Yankees this far. He’d mostly been the equal of his status as ace of the staff, leading with his heart and his fastball across seven innings and 110 pitches. He’d gotten 21 Cleveland Guardians out. The Yankees led, 4-2. Six outs to The Bronx.
But Cole was cooked. He wasn’t going to get them. The Yankees had to get to 27 outs, one night after they stalled at 26, one night after the bullpen door — and who was available behind it — became a most improbable focal point of this American League Division Series. This time, the bullpen door at Progressive Field opened, and out trotted Clay Holmes. On Saturday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone had declared him unavailable “unless there was an emergency.
So here was Holmes, unwitting face of the Yankees’ most critical crisis of the year, working the bottom of the eighth. With one out, he walked Steven Kwan, unsurprising because Kwan has been a pest to everybody in this series. There were 36,728 people inside the ballpark, and they sensed a Moment. They rose to their feet. They roared.
Saturday, they’d seen their Guardians do something that hadn’t happened in the 167 previous times the Yankees had entered a postseason ninth inning with a multiple-run lead: They’d come back. They’d won the game. They stunned the Yankees. They probably even shocked themselves. But they didn’t face Holmes on Saturday, and even as Holmes had his issues in the second half of the season, he remains the Yankees best back-end bullpen option. Now, he had to prove it.
He struck out Amed Rosario. He struck out Jose Ramirez. He threw 17 pitches, and his sinker had its sink and he looked the picture of health. In the space of two hitters, he kicked a plug out of the wall at Progressive Field and
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