Germán's gem wasted as 'pen collapses in 9th

NEW YORK -- It had been arguably the most dominant performance of Domingo Germán’s career, cruising into the ninth inning against a Guardians lineup that seemingly had no answers for his four-pitch mix. He had thrown 88 pitches, three shy of his season high, when a one-out single prompted manager Aaron Boone to walk slowly toward the mound.

There were boos heard from the crowd as Boone crossed the first-base line, shorthand pleas to allow the right-hander an opportunity to finish. But Germán received no offer to do so; only congratulations on a job well done. He would watch as Clay Holmes blew the save in a stunning 3-2 loss to Cleveland on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

“Of course, you want the opportunity to finish the game,” Germán said through an interpreter. “But at the same time, you understand that’s a decision that the manager makes. I’m never going to disagree when he comes out. To me, I have to keep doing my job until that moment comes, when someone comes out and takes the ball from me.”

On a day in which the Yankees added captain Aaron Judge to their crowded injured list with a right hip strain (retroactive to Friday), Germán gave his teammates a reason to keep the faith.

Supported by Jose Trevino’s fourth-inning solo homer and DJ LeMahieu's RBI single (LeMahieu’s 1,600th career hit), Germán breezed through an uncharacteristically aggressive Cleveland lineup, outpitching Cal Quantrill by permitting just two hits and one walk over a career-high 8 1/3 innings.

After Amed Rosario’s first-inning single, Germán faced 25 batters without allowing a hit, a span interrupted only by Josh Bell’s fifth-inning leadoff walk.

“He just gave us fits,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “He started throwing that breaking ball and putting it in our head, then he’d sneak his fastball by our barrels. He did a really good job on us.”

Then came the pivotal ninth. Germán started the frame with a swinging strikeout of Myles Straw, then permitted a clean single to Steven Kwan, Cleveland’s leadoff hitter. Boone raised his right index finger to summon Holmes, who last pitched on Wednesday at Minnesota.

“I just thought it was the right decision to do that there,” Boone said. “Obviously it didn’t work, so ultimately that falls on me. Domingo was great, but I wasn’t going to let him go back around there with the tying runs coming to the plate.”

Said Trevino: “They had some of their best hitters up, and we have one of the best closers in the game. So there was no surprise in that [pitching change].”

An American League All-Star last season, Holmes has largely struggled to reclaim that form, but Boone preferred the matchup of Holmes against Rosario. Boone said that Germán’s fastball velocity was dipping, and once Kwan got on, Boone feared a game-tying homer.

“The long ball has been in play and [has] bit him a little bit at times,” Boone said. “I just didn’t want him to be in a situation where he [was] going to do anything but win that game.”

Rosario greeted Holmes with a slow chopper to the third-base side of the mound; Holmes attempted to backhand it, bobbling the ball for an error. José Ramírez followed with a sharp single to left field that loaded the bases, bringing up cleanup hitter Josh Naylor.

Holmes fell behind, two balls and no strikes, then tried a sinker. It was up in the zone, and though it created the intended effect of a ground ball, Naylor smacked it through the right side of the infield for a game-tying two-run single.

That was all for Holmes, who faced three batters and retired none, seeing the lead evaporate on his watch. Boone said that he senses Holmes has been lacking “that next level of command.”

“It was an unbelievable performance by Domingo,” Holmes said. “Just pitching that deep, being that efficient. It was the kind of start that we needed. It’s frustrating to not come in there and shut the door. Bottom line, I’ve got to be better.”

Mike Zunino worked a bases-loaded walk later against Wandy Peralta as Cleveland inched ahead. One day after being blown out by 13 runs by the Rangers in Texas, it was fair to wonder which loss was worse; a game in which they seemingly had no shot, or one in which victory was cruelly ripped away at the end. The answer: They both stung.

“There’s going to be tough losses, great wins,” Boone said. “Especially as great as Domingo pitched … he was terrific. The fact that we don’t finish it off, that’s a difficult one. We’ve got to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”