Clay Holmes looks gassed after another poor outing for Mets

New York Post

a day ago

Access the Mets beat like never before
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets. Try it free
Clay Holmes looks like he's run out of gas.
Unfortunately for the Mets, they still have a ton of road left to go.
Advertisement
Another poor outing by Holmes threatened to ruin Pete Alonso's big night, as Holmes failed to get out of the fourth for a no-decision in a 13-5 Mets win over Atlanta.
After Alonso hit his franchise record 253rd homer, Holmes gave back a 5-1 lead by coughing up four runs in the fourth, with the bottom of the order doing much of the damage.
'He had a hard time landing the sinker for strikes. He was missing arm-side a lot,' said Carlos Mendoza. 'We could've done a better job recognizing that he was missing arm-side, maybe start using the cutter, some of the other pitches.'
Advertisement
Clay Holmes react dejectedly after giving up an RBI double in the fourth inning of the Mets' 13-5 blowout win over the Braves on Aug. 12, 2025.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Holmes allowed six hits, five earned runs and walked five in just 3 ²/₃ innings.
With Frankie Montas already out of the rotation, Mendoza doesn't appear set to do the same with Holmes.
'When you have a night like [this], you're always going to start questioning. But he's coming off an outing with five innings, 75-pitch efficiency,' Mendoza said. 'He keeps saying he's fine, the sinker is 96 [mph], the movement. He just had a hard time throwing that pitch for strikes. So we'll continue to check on him, continue to make sure we're not missing anything. He's a big part of this team.'
Advertisement
Clay Holmes heard boos from crowds after being taken out of the game in the fourth inning of the Mets' blowout win over the Braves.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
With Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat waiting in the wings, Holmes trudged of the mound to boos from 39,748. He's struggled to a 5.10 ERA with 27 walks and 33 strikeouts over his past 10 starts.
A reliever throughout his career before this season, Holmes had never thrown more than 70 innings and is now up to 126, even after failing to get out of the fourth for the second time in three starts.
Advertisement
But he cited pitch selection, not fatigue.
'The sinker had been working. I got a couple of ground balls and in those situations, you just have to keep trusting it. I started getting a little too fine and then had to go over the plate in counts where I probably shouldn't have,' said Holmes. 'Looking back, I just had to keep going, and if they want to hit five singles in a row, do it. But I can't put myself in bad counts, and it really helped them out.
Delivering insights on all things Amazin's
Sign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+
Thank you
Enter your email address
Please provide a valid email address.
By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter!
Check out more newsletters
'Overall the sinker has been pretty good, just attacking and trusting early. When I'm in good counts with it, I've had pretty good results. I feel like the same thing, when I help them out and put some walks on, it fuels some momentum and the singles score runs versus just maybe a run or a guy get on base. So when I'm in good counts, I feel like I've been pretty good. It's just stay on the attack for me.'