The New York Yankees took a 3-0 lead into the ninth inning at home against the tanking Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, with closer Clay Holmes on the mound. Holmes entered the inning with a 0.46 ERA in 39 1/3 innings pitched this season; he’d been MLB’s most effective reliever and was selected to the All-Star Game.
Well, in an extremely basebally outcome, Holmes proceeded to allow four earned runs without getting an out, and the Reds won 4-3.
Holmes walked Tommy Pham, gave up a groundball single to Joey Votto, hit Tyler Stephenson with a pitch, gave up a groundball single to Tyler Naquin, and hit Kyle Farmer with a pitch before being removed for Wandy Peralta.
Leading 3-2, Peralta got the first two batters out and had an 0-2 count on Jonathan India. But India blooped a two-run single into right-center field for what would serve as the game-winning hit.
INDY LEAD pic.twitter.com/dwIxMl0aIy
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 13, 2022
The Yankees had a runner on first in the bottom of the ninth, but Reds pitcher Alexis Díaz got Gleyber Torres to hit into a game-ending double play that featured a very impressive turn from India and Kyle Farmer (it was overturned to a double play after review).
The Reds cap off a stunning comeback victory over the Yankees with a nifty double play to end the game. ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/U06jZxr732
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) July 13, 2022
So, this is a brutal loss for the Yankees. And it’s their third straight loss. Even with that, they still have the best record in MLB at 61-26 (.701 winning percentage), which has them 14 games up in the AL East. The Reds improve to 33-54 (.379 winning percentage), which is the third-worst record in the majors- but they now have a five-game winning streak.
Here’s a peek at how the baseball world is reacting to the Yankees’ collapse and Reds’ comeback:
Today marks the first time in the modern era that a team with a sub-.400 win percentage (@Reds) came back from 3+ runs down in the 9th to beat a team with a .700+ win percentage (Yankees), minimum 50 games into the season.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) July 13, 2022
Before tonight, the Yankees were 48-0 when entering the 9th inning with the lead and the Reds were 0-49 when trailing entering the 9th inning.
— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) July 13, 2022
As they went to the 9th inning the Yankees win probability was 96.9%#Reds pic.twitter.com/rsthB3QvTv
— LanceMcAlister (@LanceMcAlister) July 13, 2022
Everyone that had the Yankees in their parlay tonight pic.twitter.com/Fk40I68vy1
— br_betting (@br_betting) July 13, 2022
If we weren’t 14 games up, I’d be having a full-blown meltdown right now.
As it is, it’s a horrible, frustrating loss. And I had a day from hell to boot. If y’all need me, I’ll be watching Netflix in the dark.
— Yankees Analytics Nerds (@YankeesNerds) July 13, 2022
Where were you when the 2022 #Reds beat the 2022 #Yankees?
Stuff you’ll tell the grandkids one day, folks.
— Bryce Spalding (@bryce_spalding) July 13, 2022
The Cincinnati Reds are now 4-0 when @JoeyVotto posts a TikTok. pic.twitter.com/5psie0197z
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 13, 2022
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at Awful Announcing and The Comeback.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@awfulannouncing.com.