Entering Tuesday night, Clay Holmes had allowed just two earned runs in 39.1 innings thrown, giving him a 0.46 ERA.
On Tuesday, he almost tripled his ERA by allowing four earned without recording an out.
The Yankees gave Holmes a 3-0 lead, which you could have drawn in Sharpie as a victory. Instead, it was the Bombers' third loss in a row (just the second time that's happened this season), and their worst defeat of the year, considering it was to the lowly Cincinnati Reds.
"Can’t happen. I gotta be a little better to make some in-game adjustments," Holmes said. "I just didn’t get a good grip on my sinker, starting a little across my body, lost my sinker a little bit, just a lot of non-competitive pitches there."
"Just didn’t have command. Just uncharacteristically out of the zone, obviously hit a couple guys. ... Just one of those nights that, you know, it happens," added Aaron Boone.
Speaking of the manager, his haters were, of course, out in full force -- foolishly. Sure, Holmes just didn't have it. He told us that himself. But with Holmes' success all year long, Boone knows what he can do.
"Always with Clay, I’m thinking 'he’s one pitch away. He’s gonna put you on the ground.' It was just about dialing in the command, which he obviously struggled to find tonight," he said.
Holmes has blown two straight saves, and three since June 20 (his first two were with inherited runners). That stat in mid-July comes with concerns of whether Holmes is gassed, but Boone doesn't think so.
"I think this is an outlier. We certainly pay attention to it, but I don’t think it was anything more than him being out of whack tonight," he said.
Keep in mind, Holmes is an All-Star. He's been way too dominant to give up on him after one bad outing.
But Holmes is going to the drawing board and wants to figure this out.
"It was just one of those nights. ... but I think you definitely learn from these and look forward to getting back out there and giving the team a chance to win the next time out."