Clay Holmes’ sinker is hard enough to deal with for opposing batters when it’s on.
If his slider is working too, the Yankees’ reliever can bring his game to another level, like he did in the tightest of spots Tuesday night.
Holmes entered with the bases loaded, one out and a one-run lead in the eighth inning and saved the day for the Yankees by striking out Francisco Lindor and Starling Marte on the way to a 7-6 win at Citi Field.
“Those are the type of moments you want to pitch in, that you dream about pitching in,” Holmes said. “Obviously this is always a great atmosphere. Yankees-Mets, to play here and come in at a big moment to help the team win, it was fun.”
Holmes has now recorded scoreless outings in 18 of his past 19 appearances, recording a 0.47 ERA during that stretch after posting a 6.30 ERA through his first 12 games of the season.
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Tuesday, he had both his sinker and slider moving well. He used the sinker to get Lindor whiffing in a full count before going to the slider to punch out Marte.
“He’s been terrific of late,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Both the sinker and the slider have been weapons for him. … The confidence he has right now in both pitches that he can go to is really helping each pitch play up a little bit.”
Holmes attributed his recent success to attacking the strike zone early, which frees him up to use the slider more often and keep batters from sitting on the sinker.
“Things just don’t have to be quite as perfect [when the slider is working],” Holmes said. “I’m never going to be a command guy necessarily, definitely more movement-oriented. But when I can use the slider to get into some better counts for the hitters to see a little something else, I can trust the sinker movement a little more and feel like I don’t have to be so perfect with it. I’ve been getting some ground balls and it was nice to get a couple strikeouts tonight to help us win.”
