Clay Holmes allows walk-off grand slam to Rangers

Holmes suffered his MLB-leading 11th blown save this season, squandering a one-run lead with a shaky ninth inning that ended on rookie Wyatt Langford’s walk-off grand slam.

Immediately after the loss, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said it was too early to say whether it was time for a change of closer.

“I’m not going to answer that right now when we’re raw and emotional,” Boone said. “We’ll talk through and do what we think is the best thing. … He’s really important to us down there [in the bullpen]. We need his excellence to be part of the group down there. So this is a tough one.”

After recording the first out in the ninth and the Yankees up 4-3, Holmes allowed a single and then went wild, issuing walks to Josh Smith and Marcus Semien. Langford hit the seventh pitch of his at-bat out to left field, where Alex Verdugo barely moved out of his stance as the ball sailed into the seats.

Tuesday’s defeat was Holmes’ first blown save since Aug. 18 in Detroit; he had posted 4 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings over his past five appearances since then. Holmes’ ERA ballooned to a season-high 3.27 after the loss to the Rangers.

“I feel like I’ve thrown the ball pretty well overall, [but there’s] definitely some spots that I can learn from and have taken with me,” Holmes said.

Holmes’ first walk resulted from a missed 3-2 slider, but he threw four straight balls after going up 0-1 to Semien to issue his second walk, which loaded the bases. He said he lost the feel for his sinker, left it up in the zone and was too quick in his delivery, among other self-critiques of his outing.

“As a whole, the execution wasn’t there at all,” Holmes said. “It was pretty poor tonight.”

Holmes said a “short memory” is the only cure for what ailed him Tuesday.

“You kind of evaluate where things went wrong, what you can do better … and believe in yourself and what you can do. It’s definitely not my first tough one.”

Indeed, it was not his first misstep this season, which is why the Yankees are fielding questions about whether they have confidence in their closer going forward. Boone was the first to offer a kind word on Holmes’ behalf Tuesday night.

“I think he handles all this very well and he’s tough-minded for it,” Boone said. “Some tough ones here of late, and we’ve got to support him and make sure he’s right and a big part of what we’re doing back there. … We have options down there and we’ll consider everything.”

Said starter Carlos Rodón, whose dominant, season-high 11-strikeout performance became an afterthought: “I have a lot of faith in Clay Holmes, he’s a good teammate, so he’s got all my support and I’m looking forward to seeing him out there again.”

Third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. recalled how difficult Holmes was when he faced him as an opponent.

“Sometimes you go through those rough stretches … tough innings, tough games, we all go through them,” Chisholm said. “I feel like he’s one of those guys who can fight back. He’s been doing it for years, so I think he’s going to be alright.”

Before the Holmes saga changed the Yankees’ fortunes on Tuesday, New York got six strong innings from Rodón and a seventh-inning rally from the offense.

Rodón carved up the Rangers while allowing only one hit, a Josh Jung solo homer on the first pitch of the fourth inning.

But in the end, the Yankees dropped to a half-game behind the Orioles in the competitive AL East.