Domingo German pitched the game of his life on Monday. Then Clay Holmes blew it all up as the Yankees suffered another brutal loss in their return to the Bronx.
Holmes took over with a 2-0 lead and one out in the ninth. A few batters and one Holmes fielding error later, Guardians first baseman and Yankees nemesis Josh Naylor tied the game with a two-run single. From there, heavy boos soundtracked Holmes’ departure.
Wandy Peralta then walked in the winning run before the inning ended, and the Yankees failed to rally in the bottom of the ninth off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase. Just like that, a brilliant pitching performance went to waste as the Yanks lost, 3-2.
The Bombers have now scored fewer than four runs in 15 of their last 18 games. A Jose Trevino home run and an RBI single from DJ LeMahieu provided all of the Yankees’ scoring in the third inning.
While Monday served as the Yankees’ second consecutive debilitating loss following a 15-2 defeat in Texas on Sunday, German shined against Cleveland in the longest outing of his career.
Home runs plagued German in his last two starts, but the right-hander didn’t run into any such trouble against Cleveland. Instead, the rotation replacement blanked the Guardians for 8.1 efficient innings while surrendering just two hits. German also struck out six while restricting Cleveland to just one walk.
German leaned on his curveball to keep the Guardians guessing. He went to the offering 44% of the time to induce nine whiffs while using his fastball as his No. 2 pitch. German also mixed in some changeups and sinkers throughout the night.
Aside from the third inning, the Yankees’ offense remained cold. Cal Quantrill’s own performance on the mound played a part in that, as the Guardians righty went 7.1 innings while logging six hits, two earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts.
After taking two out of three from the Guardians in Cleveland earlier this season, the slumping Yankees will try to do the same at home before visiting the first place Rays this weekend.
Gerrit Cole faces rookie Tanner Bibee, who is making his second career start, on Tuesday. Bibee allowed one earned run while tallying eight strikeouts in his debut against the Rockies on April 26, while Cole owns a 5-0 record, 1.11 ERA and 44 strikeouts over six starts.
Guardians ace Shane Bieber and his 3.11 ERA is scheduled to oppose Clarke Schmidt in the series finale. Schmidt owns a 6.84 ERA through six starts.
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