Yankees to get ‘creative’ with closer role amid Clay Holmes’ disaster stretch

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Yankees are opening the door for their closer role, even while Aaron Boone still would not shut it on Clay Holmes.

A day after Holmes’ league-leading 11th blown save of the season, Boone said the Yankees would get “creative” with how they close out games moving forward, likely giving different relievers save opportunities based on matchups.

That could include Jake Cousins, Luke Weaver and Tommy Kahnle — in addition to Holmes on a given night — and potentially (eventually) a starter like Luis Gil with the Yankees facing a rotation crunch.

“In the short term, just try and put these guys in the best position to be successful,” Boone said Wednesday at Globe Life Field. “How that shakes out may vary a little bit every night, but in the short term, that’s the way we’ll go.

“Want to support Clay through this, and again I feel like he’s throwing the ball really well in a lot of ways. [Tuesday] night was different than what he’s experienced in a lot of the outings this year. … The reality is he’s really not that far off from being the dominant guy we know he can be.”

“But in the short term, we’ll certainly get a little creative back there.”

Asked if someone like Gil or Clarke Schmidt could factor into the ninth inning down the road, Boone said, “Never say never.”

Boone met with Holmes in his office on Wednesday afternoon to check in with him and let the reliever know of his plans.

Holmes entered the ninth inning Tuesday to protect a 4-3 lead and allowed a single and back-to-back walks as he lost command of his sinker and consistently spiked them into the dirt.

Then he left a slider up to Wyatt Langford that got crushed for a walk-off grand slam.

“I’m ready to pitch whenever and will do whatever it takes to win,” Holmes said.