With Domingo German dominating through 8.1 shutout innings, including a strikeout to begin the ninth, it looked like the righty was on his way to a complete game shutout, with the Yankees holding a 2-0 lead.
But after a single by Steven Kwan, on German’s 88th pitch, Aaron Boone emerged from the dugout, hearing boos from the home crowd as the Yankee manager went to Clay Holmes for the final two outs.
The boos grew louder as Holmes blew the lead, with Cleveland coming back for three runs and dropping New York to .500 in a new low for the season.
“I just thought it was the right decision to do that there,” Boone said of the decision to take out German. “Obviously it didn’t work, so ultimately, that falls on me.
“Domingo was great, but I wasn’t gonna let him go back around there with the tying runs coming to the plate, especially with the Rosario matchup right there. That’s set up well for Clay. Obviously, we don’t make a play there, and it sets up the inning.”
The decision was heavily criticized, both during and after the fact, with fan reactions ranging from disbelief that German wasn’t able to finish a complete game, to confusion that the struggling Holmes was brought in instead of Michael King, who had been previously warming up in the bullpen. Regardless, the universal agreement was that the Yankees are in a freefall after one of the worst losses of the season.
“Tough, but there’s gonna be tough losses, and great wins,” Boone said. “Especially, as great as Domingo pitched…he was terrific. So yeah, the fact that we don’t finish it off, that’s a difficult one.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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