Yankees’ Clay Holmes hangs on for save despite lack of control
NY Post
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On the way to throwing 17 ¹/₃ innings without allowing an earned run this season, Clay Holmes has often been downright dominant.
That was not the case Friday night, but the Yankees closer lived to tell about it.
Holmes lost his sinker command but not the game, leaving the bases loaded to finish off a 2-0 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field.
After walking just one batter through his first 16 appearances of the season, Holmes issued two free passes on Friday, plus a single that loaded the bases with two outs.
But he used a sweeper to strike out Jonny DeLuca — his third punchout of the frame — to lock up his 12th save of the season.
“The slider’s been good all year,” Holmes said. “I think tonight was one of those situations where I had to lean on it a little more. The sinker, the movement was there but just wasn’t quite commanding it like I had been. … Sometimes they clip the edges, sometimes they don’t. I had to lean on the slider because of that and made some pitches with the slider.”
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