Instead of a sweep, the Yankees got a Royal flush — and not the good kind.
Clay Holmes blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning, giving up a three-run homer to Salvador Perez that sank the Yankees in an 8-6 loss to the Royals on Sunday afternoon in The Bronx.
It was the first home run Holmes has allowed this season in his 45th appearance. Trying to protect a 6-5 lead, the Yankees closer retired the first batter of the ninth before losing his command with a walk, a hit-batter and Perez’s two-strike, go-ahead blast to center field.
“Every win is important,” Holmes said. “It’s not a good feeling, especially when you blow the game there at the end. … I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen again, especially the same way.”
Before Sunday, the Yankees were 55-1 when leading after eight innings and the Royals were 1-55 when trailing after eight.
The Yankees bullpen entered Sunday having pitched 10 shutout innings through the first three games of the series against the Royals (40-62). But that came tumbling down in a hurry when Ron Marinaccio gave up a solo home run in the eighth inning before Holmes’ implosion in the ninth.
Holmes was betrayed by his sinker command, continuing a recent trend after his dominant start to the season. Through his first 30 games (32 innings), Holmes posted a 0.28 ERA with three walks, 33 strikeouts and three hit batters while going 11-for-11 in save opportunities. Over his last 14 games (13 ²/₃ innings), though, Holmes has recorded a 5.27 ERA with 10 walks, 15 strikeouts and three hit batters while going 6-for-9 in saves.
“Especially the sinker, it’s definitely a feel pitch and something that might come and go during the season,” Holmes said. “Especially early in counts, I haven’t been throwing it for strikes like I was early. It’s definitely an area of focus and something I know if I do, I’m usually pretty good. Just finding that consistent feel and release point and making sure the body is moving consistently and like it’s supposed to [is key].”
It wiped away what would have been another comeback win by the Yankees (69-34). They trailed 4-0 before a two-run home run by DJ LeMahieu in the fifth inning and a three-run homer by Anthony Rizzo in the seventh gave them a 6-4 lead.
In the eighth, Marinaccio had his scoreless streak snapped at 15 games and 19 innings when he gave up a leadoff home run to Hunter Dozier. It was the first homer he gave up all season and the first hit he allowed since June 7. It cut the Yankees’ lead to 6-5, but the rookie reliever later stranded a pair to hand the game to Holmes.
Coming off his shortest start of the season — when he gave up five runs (four earned) across 2 ¹/₃ innings against the Mets — Jordan Montgomery was in control early on Sunday. After allowing a one-out single in the first inning, the lefty retired the next 11 batters until issuing back-to-back walks to start the fifth inning.
Those free passes came back to hurt him as the Royals went on to knock Montgomery out of the game with a four-run inning in which they found holes for hits.
“I just can’t walk two guys in a row,” said Montgomery, who had struck out six and walked none before the fifth inning.
The Yankees offense picked up Montgomery, turning a 4-0 deficit into a 6-4 lead. But they were unable to complete the sweep as their bullpen, two days before the trade deadline, showed some cracks.
“I’m encouraged by a lot of things I’m seeing,” manager Aaron Boone said when asked about the state of his bullpen. “Obviously today was a tough day for us. But Clay Holmes has been one of the best closers in the sport. Today notwithstanding, we feel great about him. … We just gotta keep refining, keep getting better and put ourselves in a good position moving forward.”
