Clay Holmes caps his masterful Mets spring by clearing critical ‘mental’ hurdle
NY Post
PORT ST. LUCIE — Clay Holmes went to the mound for the sixth inning Friday with mental fatigue to conquer.
A former reliever who has stretched out to starter this spring for the Mets, the right-hander felt the full brunt of his new role, even as his arm wasn’t showing signs of duress.
“Physically, I was in a pretty good spot,” Holmes said after the Mets beat the Cardinals 3-2 in an exhibition game at Clover Park. “But, man, six up just feels like you’re pitching forever out there. That’s just a mental thing.”
Holmes recorded one out in the inning, extending to 88 pitches, and was removed.
Over 5 ¹/₃ scoreless innings, he allowed two hits and struck out eight with three walks.
He finished the Grapefruit League with a 0.93 ERA.
On the Queens side of town, the reno began in earnest almost as soon as Francisco Lindor grounded into the 4-6-3 double play. That ended a 4-0 loss before a rare sizable crowd at Miami’s loanDepot Park last Sept. 27, all of them there to witness the final death rattles of an epic baseball calamity.
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Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
SAN DIEGO — As you may have seen elsewhere in this newspaper (and also if you haven’t deleted me yet from your social media), I have a book coming out Tuesday called “The Bosses of The Bronx.” Much of it details the 37 years’ worth of antics, winning, losing, winning again and overall mania of George Steinbrenner’s time with the Yankees.
The Knicks are on a five-game winning streak and flooded with concerns.
Don’t close the curtain on “Mean” Joe Greene.