ARLINGTON, Texas — Clay Holmes lost his delivery, lost his command and then lost the game.
By the end of the night, the Yankees had lost their grip on first place in the AL East, too.
After a DJ LeMahieu fielding error opened the door for a two-run rally in the bottom of the eighth that trimmed the Yankees lead to one run, Holmes blew it in the bottom of the ninth as the Rangers walked off with a 7-4 win on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field.
Wyatt Langford delivered the final blow, crushing a grand slam to left field on a full count with one out.
Holmes, who had walked back-to-back batters to load the bases, hung a slider over the heart of the plate and Langford clobbered it to seal a brutal finish for the Yankees.
With the crushing loss — their fifth in the last seven games — the Yankees (80-59) dropped into second place in the AL East for the first time since Aug. 20, with the Orioles moving into first by a half-game.
“There’s been times I’ve thrown well and gotten beat,” Holmes said. “Obviously tonight was one of those where I didn’t throw very well. Wasn’t very good at all and definitely didn’t deserve to come out on top the way I was throwing.”
The blown save was Holmes’ league-leading 11th of the season, and while this one was different than most of the rest, it only turned the spotlight brighter on his struggles and the issues facing the back end of the Yankees bullpen.
Asked if the Yankees needed to go in another direction at closer, manager Aaron Boone deflected.
“I’m not going to answer that right now when we’re raw and emotional,” Boone said. “We’ll talk through it and do what we think is the best thing.”
Boone had left the door open for a change after Holmes’ last blown save on Aug. 18 in the Little League Classic, but he converted all three of his save opportunities since then leading into Tuesday.
At times a victim this season of soft contact as a ground ball pitcher, Holmes hurt himself in this one.
He consistently spiked sinkers and sliders in the dirt, leading to walks of Josh Smith (on a 3-2 count) and Marcus Semien (on a 3-1 count) to load the bases with one out before Langford’s homer.
“Just lost the delivery there,” Holmes said. “Lost the feel for the sinker. [Slider], was just leaving it up. Think I was just getting a little too quick. The command went with that. Obviously that one hurt. That was a tough one. Have to bounce back and show what we’re made of [Wednesday].”
On a night when Carlos Rodon struck out a season-high 11 across six strong innings, the Yankees took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth.
Smith led off with a high chopper to first base that Boone said LeMahieu lost in the lights as it hit off his glove for the error.
One out after Semien’s broken-bat infield single off Jake Cousins, Josh Jung roped a line drive to second base that Gleyber Torres could not knock down with a backhanded attempt on an in-between hop, going for an RBI single that made it 4-2.
“It was a tough play, on this track that’s obviously fast,” Boone said. “If he stabs it, we probably get a double play there, but it’s a tough one.”
After Cousins walked the bases loaded, Tim Hill entered and allowed Nathaniel Lowe’s sacrifice fly to make it 4-3 before striking out Jonah Heim to end the threat.
But that only delayed the devastation.
“It’s tough,” Rodon said. “Baseball can be very cruel. It’s a cruel game. But I have a lot of faith in Clay Holmes. He’s a good teammate, so he’s got all my support. I’m looking forward to seeing him out there again.”
Given that Holmes was pitching for a second straight night on Tuesday, he likely won’t have a chance to redeem himself in Wednesday’s series finale — the 10th straight rubber game the Yankees have played in.
When he gets his next save opportunity after that, though, remains to be seen.
“Tonight was a struggle, obviously,” Boone said. “He’s really important to us down there and we need his excellence to be part of the group down there.”
