After Yankees pushed to the brink, Aaron Boone says Clay Holmes was only available for “emergency situation”

The New York Yankees are one loss away from going home for the offseason. Saturday night the Yankees dropped a heartbreaker to the Cleveland Guardians, blowing a 5-3 ninth inning lead in an eventual 6-5 walk-off loss in Game 3 of the ALDS. Wild Card Series hero Oscar Gonzalez had the walk-off two-run single. Cleveland leads the best-of-five series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday night.

Rookie righty Clarke Schmidt allowed the walk-off hit after setup men Lou Trivino, Jonathan Loáisiga, and Wandy Peralta pitched earlier in the game. Closer Clay Holmes did not pitch in Game 3 after pitching in Game 1 on Tuesday and Game 2 on Friday. Holmes missed the end of the regular season with a shoulder issue and Yankees manager Aaron Boone said they didn’t want to use him on back-to-back days so soon after the injury.

“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 any 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,” Boone said after Game 3. “… It was really the emergency situation [only for Holmes to be available].”

I’m not sure what qualifies as an “emergency situation” if it’s not trying to close out a postseason game with the tying and winning runs on base, but I digress. Trivino and Loáisiga combined for only three outs despite Holmes not being available, though the larger issue is Holmes said he was available to pitch Game 3, and he informed the Yankees he was ready to go.

“I prepared today to do my job. Sometimes those decisions aren’t mine. I feel like I’m available to pitch. Whenever my name is called, I’m ready to go out there and give it everything I’ve got,” Holmes told MLB.com after Game 3. “They asked and I said I was good to go if needed.”

On one hand, every player is going to say he’s available in the postseason, and it’s on the manager and the coaches to protect the players from themselves. On the other hand, Boone admitted Holmes was available, but only an emergency, and apparently the ninth inning of Game 3 was not an emergency. Other players in the clubhouse were surprised Holmes was not used as well.

“He’s our closer. So of course I was surprised,” Game 3 starter Luis Severino told MLB.com. “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 [pitching coach Matt] Blake to see what was going on there.”

It takes a lot — A LOT — for players to publicly criticize decisions made by the manager and coaching staff, so Holmes and Severino speaking out after Game 3 is notable. Losing a game because a reliever gets hit around is one thing. Losing a game and then the players saying they didn’t know why the manager made the decisions he did is another. It’s bad, bad look for Boone.

The Yankees will hand the ball to Gerrit Cole with their season on the line in Game 4. Boone said Holmes will be available.