The New York Mets’ experiment with Clay Holmes is working swimmingly so far.
And the bullpen he left behind — across town in the Bronx — is still in flux.
Holmes has made the transition from closer to starter look easy, going 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA in six outings. That’s helped the Mets surge to baseball’s best record despite injuries elsewhere in the rotation and a pedestrian start by Juan Soto.
Soto is batting .248 with three home runs, and he’s not the only high-priced addition to the Mets who hasn’t peaked yet. Frankie Montas hasn’t thrown a pitch, and reliever A.J. Minter just joined him on the injured list. Sean Manaea, who came back to the Mets with a $75 million, three-year contract, hasn’t pitched yet either because of an oblique strain.
But Holmes, who saved 30 games for the New York Yankees last year before signing a $38 million, three-year deal with the Mets, has been a solid addition. Despite the injuries to Montas and Manaea, New York boasts a major league-best 2.36 ERA from its starters. Kodai Senga has a 1.26 ERA, and Tylor Megill (1.74), Griffin Canning (3.12) and David Peterson (3.29) have done their part as well.
The Mets’ offense hasn’t yet produced as expected, but spending the money ($54 million for two years) to keep Pete Alonso is working out nicely. He’s hitting .333 and is second in the National League with 26 RBIs.
The Yankees, meanwhile, lead the AL East. They replaced Holmes as their closer late last season, putting Luke Weaver in that role. Then they acquired Devin Williams from Milwaukee in an offseason trade. But Williams, so dominant with the Brewers, has already been relieved of his closing duties in New York after allowing 10 earned runs in his first 10 appearances.
Weaver hasn’t allowed a run all season, so it’s not as though the Yankees necessarily want Holmes back. But the Mets are happy to have him at the moment.
Line of the week
Eugenio Suárez had a game for the ages Saturday night, hitting four home runs for Arizona in an 8-7, 10-inning loss to Atlanta. He was the 19th player in MLB history to hit four homers in a game and the first since J.D Martinez did it in 2017. Martinez was also with the Diamondbacks when he pulled off the feat.
Trivia time
Suárez’s big night came eight seasons after MLB’s previous four-homer game. The longest drought between four-homer games in the live ball era was nearly 15 years. One Hall of Famer did it on April 30, 1961, and another pulled it off on April 17, 1976. Who were they?
Comeback of the week
As well as they’ve been playing, the Mets did end the week with a thud when they blew a six-run seventh-inning lead in an 8-7 loss at Washington on Sunday. New York had a 99% percent chance to win in the seventh, according to Baseball Savant, but Riley Adams hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run seventh for the Nationals. Washington then scored twice in the ninth to win.
Honorable mention: The Chicago Cubs trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-7 on Tuesday night before Kyle Tucker hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Miguel Amaya delivered a tying solo shot with two outs in the ninth. Ian Happ led off the bottom of the 10th with an RBI single to win it 11-10.
Trivia answer
Willie Mays hit four homers in a game in 1961, and Mike Schmidt did it 15 years later.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Noah Trister, The Associated Press
