The Yankees let a great opportunity go by the wayside Saturday night in Cleveland.
The American League East champions had a chance to put the Guardians on the brink of elimination when they took a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning of the teams’ AL Division Series Game 3. After Wandy Peralta allowed a pair of one-out singles, New York manager Aaron Boone turned to Clarke Schmidt instead of All-Star closer Clay Holmes. Schmidt wasn’t able to come through for the visitors, as he allowed singles to three of the four batters he saw and Cleveland walked off with a 6-5 win at Progressive Field.
Yankees starter Luis Severino, who only allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings, clearly wasn’t happy that Holmes never saw the mound in Game 3.
“He’s our closer. So of course I was surprised,” Severino told reporters, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “I don’t know if he was down. There shouldn’t be people down in the playoffs. That’s something you guys need to ask Boone or (Matt) Blake to see what was going on there.”
Boone explained why the Yankees only wanted to use Holmes in an “emergency situation” Saturday night.
“I mean, he was down there available, but we felt like it was … you know, we were putting him in a tough situation,” Boone told reporters, per Sports Illustrated. “I mean, part of the thing with him being available for this series, was not really in a back-to-back situation yet. He just hadn’t thrown (anything) live or anything. So while he was pretty good today and I fully expect him available tomorrow, it just felt like we needed to stay away there.”
Holmes, meanwhile, claimed he never told Boone he was unavailable and insisted he was “ready to go” if he was needed to pitch in Game 3. The 29-year-old, who threw 16 pitches Friday, said he was not involved in the decision to keep him on the shelf Saturday, per the New York Post.
The Yankees now will try to keep their season alive Sunday when they meet the Guardians for Game 4 of the best-of-five series. First pitch from Cleveland is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. ET.
