Clay Holmes blows save as Yankees woes continue with 3-2 loss to Red Sox in 10

BOSTON — Nothing is easy for the Yankees these days. Clay Holmes blew his third save in his last 11 appearances as the Red Sox rallied for a 3-2 walkoff win in the 10th inning at Fenway Park Friday night.

In the bottom of the 10th, Tommy Pham hit a sharp ground ball that got past Josh Donaldson and scored the winning run. It was the Yankees’ major-league-leading eighth walkoff loss this season.

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After getting Rafael Devers to ground out, Holmes had walked Xander Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo. J.D. Martinez’s ground ball up the middle tied the game. Wandy Peralta had to come in and try to clean up.

Peralta struck out Eric Hosmer for the second out and Isiah Kiner-Falefa nabbed Christian Arroyo’s line drive to get them out of the inning and force a 10th.

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The Yankees got runners on third and second in the 10th, but Donaldson and Gleyber Torres both struck out to end their half of the inning. It was the seventh straight time in extra innings the Yankees were unable to bring a run across.

Aaron Judge, who did hit a homer, also strikes out as Yankees offense struggles against the Red Sox. (Michael Dwyer/AP)

This was not the soft landing the Yankees (71-42) needed after a rough stretch. They came into Boston 1-5 on this road trip that took them through St. Louis and Seattle.  They have now lost eight of their last nine games and are 7-14 in their last 21 games.

They still came back East with a 10-game lead in the division, but Friday was the first day the Bombers woke up chasing a team since April 27. While they were off on Thursday, the Astros moved past them.

“We want to get rolling again. We’re in the handshake business. That’s what it’s about for us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Look, inevitably every team, even the really good teams out there, take their lumps here and there. So I try not to worry about the standings so much at this point. It’s more about trying to prepare and get ready for every day and try to be the best baseball team we can  be.

“That’s kind of where the energy and the focus lies.”

They began the traditional second half of the season, the post All-Star break half, being swept by the Astros in a doubleheader in Houston. They came out of that saying Minute Maid Park was  a place where they’d like to play a minimal number of games in October — that can only be avoided if the Yankees finish ahead of the Astros in the regular-season standings.

That loss set a tone. In their last 13 games against teams that are currently in position to make the playoffs, the Yankees are 2-11. They are 24-22 against playoff teams on the season.

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Coming into Fenway, where the American League East standings on the Green Monster show the Red Sox (55-59) in last place, was the boost the Yankees needed.

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Judge hit his 46th home run in the third. The solo, 429-foot shot gave him 100 RBI. He also scored in the first on Anthony Rizzo’s double after drawing a walk.

German allowed one run on five hits and two walks. He struck out four.

It was his fourth solid start of the season, after beginning the year on the injured list with a shoulder issue.

He gave up a leadoff double to Verdugo in the fourth and then Martinez’s ground ball got past a diving Isiah Kiner-Falefa and got into center field, allowing Verdugo to score.

“Obviously the first one in Houston was a little rough, but then I thought he threw the ball really well against the Mets his next time out, then next time he had a really good line where he got through five (innings),” Boone said of German. “He’s throwing strikes and stuff. He was getting hit around a little bit but was able to get through five and only gave up the two runs and his last start. I thought he did pretty well. …..In his last start against St. Louis, I really felt like his last two innings were maybe the best two innings we’ve seen out of him. . … And hopefully it’s something that he continues to build on. But really since that first outing he’s been, he’s given us a chance.”

And Friday night, German gave the Yankees a chance, they just could not make the most of it.