The Yankees seemed to have righted the ship. After being swept in a two-game series by the Mets, the Bombers took the first three games in their series against the Kansas City Royals and were three outs away from a four-game sweep.
In comes All-Star closer Clay Holmes who has been a godsend for Aaron Boone after former closer Aroldis Chapman seemingly lost his stuff earlier this season. A three-run shot from Salvador Perez later and the Yanks dropped the series finale, 8-6.
"Every win is important and it’s not a good feeling especially when you blow a game there in the end," Holmes said after the game. "You have the trust of your teammates around you and prepare and make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’ll take the good, try to forget the bad and move on and make sure I get the job done next time."
After being nearly unhittable for the first three months of the season, Holmes has now blown three saves in his last nine chances. On Sunday, he didn’t have the feel for his patented sinker and lost two batters before leaving a pitch over the plate for Perez to smash.
Inconsistency, along with some significant injuries, had caused trade deadline chatter for the Yanks to make a move and fortify what was once the league’s best bullpen.
And with Tuesday’s trade deadline looming, the talk about how the Yankees can improve their bullpen and team continues. But Boone, as he usually is, continues to remain calm and talk positively of his players.
"I’m encouraged with a lot of things I’m seeing, obviously today was a tough day for us," He said after the loss. "Clay Holmes has been one of the best closers in the sport, today notwithstanding, we feel great about him.
"[Jonathan] Loaisiga continues to make progress, Chapman is making progress, we’ve seen the likes of [Ron] Marinaccio and Clarke Schmidt really take big steps and be real contributors to the bullpen. Wandy [Peralta’s] reliable and we’ve seen Albert Abreu take it to another level. We have to keep refining, keep getting better and put ourselves in a good position moving forward."
Whatever Brian Cashman decides to do before the deadline is not really on Boone’s mind. Instead, he continues to look forward to the next series.
"Whatever happens, and I’m sure it’ll be a crazy 48 hours in the baseball world, but my focus is who we have right now," Boone said. “We’ve been one of the best if not the best in the league and we’ll continue to be that whatever happens over the next 48 hours and that’s where my focus lies."
When asked what areas the Yankees need improving, Boone said he believes this year’s team is a "complete team" but would welcome a trade that would strengthen his squad. But if no deal is done he knows they have a job to do.
Holmes understands the business, and with the Michael King injury he knows the Yankees brass will do what’s best for the team.
"There’s a lot that’s out of my control and I have full confidence that the staff and management will give us the best chances," he said. "Whoever it is [that’s traded to New York], we’ll be glad to see it. Guess we’ll find out in a couple of days."