NEW YORK – The transition from closer to starter has been seamless for Mets right-hander Clay Holmes. He had another solid outing on Friday night, helping New York secure a 7-2 victory over the Cubs at Citi Field.
It might have been Holmes’ best outing of the season, as he pitched six innings and allowed one run on three hits and three walks. His only blemish was a homer by Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker in the fourth inning.
It was the first homer allowed by Holmes this season, and it took 167 batters to finally hit one out of the park. No one has faced more batters this season without surrendering a home run.
It was windy at the ballpark for the series opener, and it helped Holmes’ sinker, which had excellent movement throughout the game
“After the first inning, Alvin [catcher Francisco Alvarez] came back to the dugout and told me, ‘Man, that sinker is moving a lot,’” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I said, ‘Well, you have to find a way to keep it [in the strike zone].’ Obviously, [Holmes] did.
“He went to the changeup when he needed to. He went to the breaking ball when he needed to. He made it look easy on a night where it wasn’t the best conditions for [his repertoire of pitches], and he found a way.”
Holmes was able to stop a Cubs team that leads the Major Leagues with 5.8 runs per game. Chicago manager Craig Counsell was impressed by what he saw from Holmes.
"He's having a nice year. He's added the [kick change], and the ball's just on the ground,” Counsell said.
“It's just tough to elevate a ball on him. He keeps the ball down, and it's got good sinking action, and then the [changeup] is down. So he lives down there, and he's got the sweeper to the right-handers that just doesn't let them cheat on that fastball, [and] that's likely on the ground."
So how has Holmes made the transition from closer to valuable starter? Mendoza may have said it the best: As a starter, when Holmes surrenders a run or two, he is still going to give the Mets a chance to win the game. As a ninth-inning guy, allowing that many runs could cost his team the game.
“Right now, I feel he is in a really good place physically, mentally, and he continues to adjust,” Mendoza said.
When it comes to his success this year, Holmes said there is a lot of preparation behind the scenes. It started with trusting the people in the Mets’ organization.
“I wanted to be here with this group,” Holmes said. “I just think [I have] a lot of things planned out for me so I can put the time and effort where I need to.
“Adding the changeup has been a huge help. I was able to use it against lefties there. I was able to use it the third time through and get some big outs. That has been a big pitch. Overall, it has gone well. It’s just trusting my pitches in the zone.”
Holmes was given plenty of run support Friday, as the Mets teed off on Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon. It started when Francisco Lindor hit his fourth leadoff homer of the season. An inning later, Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil joined the home-run parade with solo shots to give New York a three-run cushion.
New York scored three more runs before Taillon left the game after four. Juan Soto added a solo shot in the fourth over the right-center-field wall to make it a 6-1 game.
Even more impressive than the home runs was that 12 of the 13 hits the Mets collected came on a two-strike count. What did that say about the team’s approach in the batter’s box?
“We have good hitters,” Mendoza said. “We are not uncomfortable getting two strikes and seem to be able to put together a really good at-bat. When we make a mistake, we are still going to do damage.
“It says a lot about the group we have, whether we are aggressive with first pitches or we are going to work an at-bat or get behind in the count, we find a way to get back into a hitter’s count. We did that today. We put the ball in play … when we need to and understanding the situations. We did that today.”