Yankees going with closer by committee after Clay Holmes' latest blown save

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Yankees going with closer by committee after Clay Holmes' latest blown save

2024-09-05 08:11 Last Updated At：08:20

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Clay Holmes won't be the automatic choice as the closer for the New York Yankees in the short term after giving up a game-ending grand slam to the Texas Rangers for his major league-high 11th blown save this season.

Manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday the club will consider several options, Holmes included, while continuing to support the two-time All-Star coming off a rough outing.

Rookie Wyatt Langford's grand slam followed a single by Carson Kelly and consecutive walks to Josh Smith and Marcus Semien, giving the Rangers a 7-4 victory on Tuesday night.

“In the short term, we’ll kind of just get a little creative with it,” Boone said before the series finale against the Rangers. “I feel like he’s throwing the ball really well in a lot of ways. Last night it was certainly a little off and they got to him. But the reality is he’s really not that far off from being the dominant guy we know he can be.”

Langford fouled off a full-count slider to stay alive before hitting a hanging 85.8 mph slider 407 down the left-field line.

Holmes' blown saves — which have come in 40 chances — are the most for the Yankees since Dave Righetti had 13 in 1987, tying the team record set by Goose Gossage in 1983.

Boone stuck with Holmes after the right-hander's previous blown save Aug. 18 against Detroit in Major League Baseball's Little League Classic. Holmes had five scoreless outings with three saves before the loss to the Rangers.

“At this point in the season, where the race is and playoffs, it’s about winning,” Holmes said. “I think everybody’s on that same page. Whatever it takes for us to go out and win. Roles and definitions at this point, they are what they are.”

The closer-by-committee decision from Boone came with the Yankees in a tight race with Baltimore for the best record in the American League and the AL East lead. The Orioles were a half-game ahead to start the day.

Right-hander Jake Cousins has a save and a 2.73 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 30 innings. Luke Weaver, another right-hander, is second to Holmes in appearances with 54 and has finished seven games.

Left-hander Tim Hill is 3-0 with a 2.34 ERA in 27 relief outings but has just 13 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings. Tommy Kahnle, a 35-year-old righty, has a career-best 2.00 ERA in 42 appearances.

“Trust a lot of guys,” Boone said. “Just how it matches up is kind of how we'll go. And that's how we'll go into every night. I feel like there's a lot of guys down there throwing the ball well and capable.”

Rookie Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt, starters both coming off the IL, could be developed into closing options.

“Never say never," Boone said. "The reality is probably someone’s going to go to the ’pen from the starting rotation at some point, and I wouldn’t rule out necessarily anyone.”

Holmes spent time in Boone's office before the game.

“Just kind of checking in and making sure, kind of giving him my thoughts on certainly the short-term look at things,” Boone said. “But also just making sure he's good and seeing where he's at. The thing about Clay is, he's such a solid person and has such a good foundation. It's why I think he handles this role so well, the ups and downs that inevitably go with it, the pressures that go with it.”

Holmes is 2-5 with a 3.27 ERA with 19 walks and 60 strikeouts in 55 innings. The 31-year-old with 73 career saves has had trouble putting away batters with two strikes.

“I think just with the noise around it of late and having some struggles, but again I think it’s important to differentiate last night compared to what I would call the ball not bouncing his way in a lot of these games where it hasn’t been far off at all,” Boone said. “Just with losing the strike zone a little bit last night, not probably getting his sinker to where he wanted last night at times, and just felt like this was the right thing to do going into today.”

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Falcons turn to rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. for key game vs Giants

2024-12-21 22:47 Last Updated At：23:00

New York Giants (2-12) at Atlanta (7-7)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox

BetMGM NFL Odds: Falcons by 8 1/2.

Against the spread: Giants 4-10; Falcons 6-8.

Series record: Falcons lead 14-12.

Last meeting: Falcons beat the Giants 17-14 on Sept. 26, 2021, in East Rutherford, N.J.

Last week: Giants lost to the Ravens 35-14; Falcons beat the Raiders 15-9.

Giants offense: overall (29), rush (18), pass (30), scoring (32)

Giants defense: overall (T21), rush (31), pass (7), scoring (20)

Falcons: overall (9), rush (12), pass (6), scoring (20)

Falcons defense: overall (20), rush (13), pass (24), scoring (20)

Turnover differential: Giants minus-8; Falcons minus-7.

WR Malik Nabers had his third double-digit catch game of the season against the Ravens and joined Odell Beckham Jr., Jaylen Waddle and Brock Bowers as the only rookies in NFL history with three games of 10-or-more receptions. The No. 6 overall pick in the draft, Nabers has 90 catches for 901 yards and is two shy of breaking the Giants rookie record of 91 held by Beckham (2014) and Saquon Barkley (2018).

QB Michael Penix Jr. will make his first career start after the Falcons benched 13-year veteran Kirk Cousins. Penix, the Heisman Trophy runner-up at Washington in 2023, was the No. 8 pick in this year's draft but wasn't expected to land the starting job so soon. The timetable ramped up dramatically when Cousins threw nine interceptions and just one touchdown over the past five games. After pulling out an ugly 15-9 win at Las Vegas, where it became clear that the Falcons had lost confidence in their passing game, the decision was made to switch to Penix.

Atlanta's defensive front vs. Giants offensive line. After managing a league-low 10 sacks through their first 11 games, the Falcons have turned up the pressure with 13 sacks in three games since their bye week. Eight players have notched sacks during that span, led by OLB Kaden Elliss and DE Arnold Ebiketie with three apiece. With Drew Lock set to return as New York's quarterback after missing last week with a heel injury, the Falcons will be looking to bring the heat against a team that has allowed 45 sacks, tied for seventh most in the NFL.

Giants: QB Tommy DeVito, who started last week in place of Lock, is out of concussion protocol and should be the backup. … G Aaron Stinnie (concussion), LB Patrick Johnson (knee) and LB Bobby Okereke (back) are out. ... CB Greg Stroman (shoulder/shin) is doubtful. .. New York is hopeful CB Deonte Banks (ribs) can return after sitting out the last three games.

Falcons: K Younghoe Koo was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed issue, knocking him out for the rest of the regular season and putting his future with the team in doubt. Koo had been one of the league's most reliable kickers, but he has missed a career-high nine field-goal attempts this season. ... The Falcons brought in Riley Patterson to take Koo's spot. WR Casey Washington (concussion) is out.

The Falcons have won three straight in the series. ... New York's most recent win over the Falcons was a 30-20 triumph in 2014. ... The Giants' most recent win in Atlanta was a 31-10 blowout in 2007. ... The teams have met once in the playoffs, with New York rolling to a 24-2 wild-card win during the 2008 season. ... The first win in Falcons' history was a 27-16 victory over the Giants at Yankee Stadium during Atlanta's inaugural season in 1966.

The Giants tied their franchise record for consecutive losses at nine last weekend. They have done it three times in their 100-year history, the most recent time in 2019. … Lock passed for 313 yards, threw two TDs and ran for one for Denver in 2020 in his only career start against the Falcons. … RB Tyrone Tracy ranks second among rookies with 695 yards rushing. He has scored a TD in his past three road games. … WR Wan’Dale Robinson has a career-high 71 receptions. .. Burns has his eighth sack of the season last week and became the sixth player since 2000 with at least 7 1/2 sacks in each of his first six seasons. He had two sacks in his most recent game against the Falcons, playing for the Panthers in 2023. … ILB Micah McFadden has a career-high 102 tackles. … Penix was among a record-tying six QBs taken in the first round of the 2024 draft. He is the fifth member of that group to earn a start, ahead of only Minnesota's J.J. McCarthy, who won't play until 2025 because of a knee injury. ... Falcons RB Bijan Robinson rushed for a career-high 125 yards on 22 carries against Las Vegas. That gave the second-year back the first 1,000-yard season of his young career, pushing him to 1,102 yards. ... Robinson has topped 100 yards in three of the past five games, and he has at least 20 carries in four of the past five games as the Falcons turned away from their passing game amid Cousins' struggles. ... Elliss has a career-high 124 tackles after making 11 stops at Las Vegas. ... OLB DeAngelo Malone has his first two sacks of the season against the Raiders. ... P Bradley Pinion had four punts downed inside the 10, including two inside the 5, in the Monday night win.

Robinson is a good bet to keep getting plenty of carries and rushing yards, especially with the Falcons breaking in a new quarterback. He's also an option in the passing game, providing a safe outlet for short-to-medium passes that would further lessen the burden on Penix.

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