Clay Holmes blows another save before Yankees lose Little League Classic to Tigers in extras
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The 20 teams involved in the Little League World Series spent the afternoon and night brushing shoulders with big leaguers.
The Yankees and Tigers rewarded them with more than nine innings, too.
But for the Yankees, that came at a cost as Clay Holmes blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth before the Tigers walked off a 3-2 win against Mark Leiter Jr. in the 10th inning of the Little League Classic on Sunday night at Bowman Field.
The Yankees had regained a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th on a leadoff RBI single from DJ LeMahieu.
But the Tigers came back to tie it in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff RBI single from pinch-hitter Zack McKinstry, who then stole second.
That set him up to score on Parker Meadows’ game-winning single to left field, with Jasson Dominguez’s double-clutch on the throw home costing him any chance of nabbing McKinstry to extend the game.
The Yankees entered the bottom of the ninth clinging to a 1-0 lead after Marcus Stroman had out-dueled Tarik Skubal across six innings.
But with one out, Colt Keith sliced a double to left field to start the rally. Then with two outs, rookie third baseman Jace Jung shot a single through the left side to tie the game.
Stroman tossed six shutout innings in his best start in two months, but the Yankees (73-52) wasted it as they lost the rubber game.
The right-hander allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out five, getting some help from his defense — a relay home from Aaron Judge to Anthony Volpe to Jose Trevino — to keep the shutout intact.
The Tigers (61-64) spent much of the weekend quieting the Yankees’ offense.
The only run they scored before extra innings came in the top of the sixth, when Gleyber Torres was on third base with two outs and raced home on Skubal’s slider in the dirt that got past catcher Jake Rogers.
Skubal represents a bad combination for the Yankees — one of the best pitchers in the league and a lefty, which they have struggled against most of the season.
And while Skubal held them in check, the Yankees put together some long at-bats early to help hike up his pitch count and force him out of the game after six innings and 100 pitches.
Dominguez, who was called up for the game as the 27th man to bat fifth against Skubal and start in left field, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Stroman, meanwhile, was much more efficient than Skubal.
The Yankees used rainouts earlier this month to push Stroman back in the rotation and give him a few extra days to work on his mechanics in bullpen sessions.
He had posted a 6.32 ERA in his last 10 starts before then but tossed five innings of one-run ball against the Rangers last weekend and then was even sharper on Sunday.
