Clay Holmes is eight starts into his second season as a starting pitcher in MLB and has a 1.86 ERA through 48.1 IP. The former Pirates and Yankees reliever followed last Saturday’s gem with a tough-luck loss in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at the Diamondbacks, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six and walking two in 5.2 IP.
“I thought I was able to limit the damage there that one inning,” Holmes said, referencing his third inning in which he retired the first two batters before Arizona (18-20) loaded the bases and scored on Ildemaro Vargas‘s single to left field. “They had some balls get through in the infield, a couple groundballs, and they were able to scratch a couple across there. But I felt like I could hold ’em there and I’m just trying to get as deep as I can after that and keep it there at two.”
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Holmes, who retired his next nine batters before Nolan Arenado‘s two-out single to right field in the sixth inning, threw 64 strikes on 103 pitches. He threw a career-high 104 pitches June 19, 2025, at the Atlanta Braves.
“You always want to finish on a strong note, but pitch count was getting to a certain spot where they wanted to go someone else,” Holmes said. “But I feel like it ended well, and (Arenado) put a good swing on it and was able to get it there into right field.”
Unfortunately for Holmes, Merrill Kelly‘s seven-inning dominance stifled the Mets (15-24), who managed three hits before Taylor Clarke and Paul Sewald closed the door.
“I thought he was very good,” Carlos Mendoza said of Holmes. “Even though they put together some really good at-bats, they made him work — some three-ball counts there, that third inning. But when you look back at that inning when they scored two — two outs, nobody on base and that groundball from (Corbin) Carroll finds a hole.
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“And then the walk and then Vargas with a nice piece of hitting the other way — (Holmes) kept them on the ground. He got the groundball. Just this time, it found holes. But he was able to go back to the sixth inning and was almost able to finish — gave us a chance and another solid outing from him.”
Holmes has gone five innings or more in every start this year. He last failed to do so Sept. 24 at the Chicago Cubs in his penultimate start of the 2025 season.
“I think just being able to limit damage … when I’m in the zone and don’t give free passes, then I’m setting myself up for success,” Holmes said. “So, in between the sinker, changeup, curveball, sweeper, I should be able to get guys on the ground, really limit the damage and just help me kind of go deeper in games and just trying to give the team the best chance to win.”
Ultimately, Holmes put the Mets in a position to win. Huascar Brazobán looks to do the same in Sunday’s 4:10 p.m. series finale on SNY.
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“We come back tomorrow with an opportunity to win another series and finish off a pretty good road trip,” Mendoza said. “And that’s what we’ll come back here tomorrow and … do.”
