For all the controversy about the Yankees’ bullpen use over the last 48 hours, well, it was Clay Holmes out there in the eighth inning in Game 4, with the Yankees holding a 4-2 lead and the Guardians sending up the top of their order after Myles Straw led off.
As it turns out, Gabriel Arias and Will Brennan, who struck out back-to-back to end the seventh, were going to be the end of the line for Gerrit Cole, who was “probably out of gas” while facing those two – and it would’ve been Holmes coming into that spot had either or both gotten on and made it dicey.
“It lined up pretty well for us tonight. You know, you start looking back, and every little out that sets up somebody in a little bit better position moving forward is always big. (Cole) getting that last out was huge because that was it right there,” Boone said postgame. “I was going to Clay there and then, you know, who knows? He gets a little bit longer, you start to get into the Naylor, Gonzalez, potentially an inning earlier obviously, and it is just a different game. It kind of set up pretty well for us tonight and really thanks to Gerrit finishing off Brennan there.”
Holmes got a clean inning, and after a one-out walk to leadoff hitter Steven Kwan, he got two straight strikeouts with the tying run at the plate again.
“I thought he threw the ball really well and was very much under control. You know, getting Straw there to start, Kwan puts a tough at-bat on him. But then really did a good job with Rosario and Ramirez, who is obviously a tough match-up for us,” Boone said. “Then that set it up perfect to have that three-batter lane for Wandy there in the ninth. They really came through.”
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It was Wandy Peralta in the ninth, pitching for a third straight day and 24 hours after he threw 27 pitches, but he needed just seven to lock down a win.
“He was great, and so efficient, too,” Boone said, admitting that Peralta was only getting three batters no matter what happened. “I didn’t really want to go get (Jonathan Loaisiga) in the game, so for him to just come in, just execute right from jump street was huge.”
Just another day for Magic Wandy.
“Was there any doubt?” Boone smiled. “I mean, this morning, right away, he said he was good, wanted the ball, so I was going to go to him in a short spurt. But it happened to line up there in the ninth for that lane I wanted him in and he was terrific again.”
Now, in a do-or-die Game 5, Cole is unavailable, but everyone else might be behind Jameson Taillon. Holmes could possibly go back-to-back, as Boone noted pregame, and Peralta might even be available in a small role thanks to his efficiency.
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“We’re a wait-and-see, but hopefully it helped that he threw in the single-digits pitch-wise,” Boone said. “Maybe that will help, we'll just see how he wakes up, see what we're looking at when we get to the ballpark.”
And, he may even have Game 2 starter Nestor Cortes ready to go two days after starting Game 2, on what might be a throw day.
“Maybe I'll have Nestor available tomorrow in kind of that role too, we’ll see,” Boone said. “Hopefully I won't have to use him. But he'll be ready to go and, you know, I'll put a limit on it.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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