Aaron Boone explains shocking call to pull starter with 90 pitches and a shutout in eventual loss: “I just thought it was the right decision"

With under 90 pitches and a two-run lead in the ninth, Aaron Boone opted to pull starting pitcher Domingo German, who was working on a two-hit shutout of the Cleveland Guardians.

He went to the de facto closer Clay Holmes, who recorded a fielding error, a walk and a game-tying single. Wandy Peralta walked the winning run, put on by Holmes, in and the Yankees lost 3-2.

With German pitching one of the best games of his life, Boone made the choice to pull him. He defended his decision via Audacy:

“I just thought it was the right decision to do that there. Obviously it didn’t work, so ultimately, that falls on me. Domingo was great, but I wasn’t gonna let him go back around there with the tying runs coming to the plate, especially with the Rosario matchup right there. That’s set up well for Clay. Obviously, we don’t make a play there, and it sets up the inning.”

Had Holmes not committed a fielding error or even been able to record a single out, the Yankees likely would have won the game. Instead, the victory slipped out of their fingers.

“Tough, but there’s gonna be tough losses, and great wins. Especially, as great as Domingo pitched…he was terrific. So yeah, the fact that we don’t finish it off, that’s a difficult one.”

At the end of the day, closing pitchers are there for this very situation. Aaron Boone's choice failed spectacularly, but that's the move most managers would likely make. With wins incredibly hard to come by right now, they had to be extremely careful with a small lead and the tying run at the plate.

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What went wrong on Aaron Boone's decision?

Aaron Boone's decision will get blamed for the loss, but there are a lot more factors to it. Pulling Domingo German, who is not considered a good starter by most metrics, wasn't a big surprise with the top of the lineup coming up.

Going to Holmes, who has been shaky at times, can be criticized. He's currently the closer, though many believe the role should go to Michael King.

Aaron Boone went to Clay Holmes

What ultimately went wrong in this game is that Clay Holmes just didn't do his job. If he fields the ball cleanly, it's a different game. A double play was unlikely, but he could have gotten out unscathed.

Instead, he spiraled and loaded the bases before giving up a run. Another error allowed the runners to move up and eventually score the winning run. The Yankees just didn't do their job this time.