"Clay is the guy”- Yankees manager Aaron Boone backs All-Star pitcher after 10th blown save of the season during team's loss against Tigers
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone defended reliever Clay Holmes after the closer picked up his 10th blown save of the season in the 2-3 extra innings loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Sunday.
Clay Holmes earned his second All-Star selection this year after an excellent start to the season after collecting 16 saves with an ERA of 1.48 in the opening two months. However, he has earned just 10 saves since then with an ERA above 4.00. On Sunday, he gave up the tying run to the Tigers in the ninth inning for his 10th blown save, the most by any closer in the MLB this year.
However, Aaron Boone has no intention of removing Clay Holmes from his role, as he feels the reliever is executing his pitches well. He was speaking to the media in the press conference after the game.
"Clay was fine. I thought the double the other way was probably the one flat sinker he threw, where it was up and out over the plate. Other than that, he looked really sharp. I thought the sinker was good tonight; the slider was good," Aaron Boone said. "Overall, I thought he threw the ball fine."
Boone insisted Holmes will remain the closer as he believes the pitcher is performing well on the mound even though the results have not been going their way.
“Look, we have a lot of really good options, but Clay, he’s had some tough breaks back there that’s led to [10 blown saves],” Boone said. “I can think of a couple of them where we didn’t make a play and it goes on him, but it’s not really [on him]. The reality is he's throwing the ball really well. That said, we've got a lot of guys that are throwing the ball well in certain situations. Right now, Clay is the guy."
Following his latest outing, Clay Holmes became the first Yankees pitcher to pick up 10 blown saves since Dave Righetti finished the season with 13 in 1987.
Aaron Boone reflects on his team facing Tarik Skubal
The Yankees were up against Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, widely considered the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award. Boone felt his team was up to the challenge, even though they did not get much success. Skubal pitched six innings, giving up three hits and a run with five strikeouts and four walks.
"We made him work hard. Starting from Gleyber [Torres] at the start with a nine-pitch at bat there. He's tough. We didn't do a lot against him, obviously. But I thought we made it challenging for him," Aaron Boone said.
"[In] our at bats against him, he had to work hard. I thought he had a little bit of everything going, with the fastball-changeup combination, especially," he added.
Nevertheless, the Yankees have lost the Little League Series to the Tigers, which has allowed the Baltimore Orioles to draw level with them at the top of the AL East.