The Yankees had a two-run lead heading into the ninth inning. Domingo Germán had shut out the Guardians until that point, but after getting Myles Straw to swing at a pitch outside of the zone to strikeout and allowing a hit to Steven Kwan, Aaron Boone emerged from the dugout. He briskly walked up to the mound and made a call to the bullpen for the closer Clay Holmes, much to the chagrin of the fans in attendance at Yankee Stadium, as he was greeted with plenty of boos walking to the hill.
Holmes threw a total of 10 pitches — all sinkers — and allowed three runners to cross the plate due to a multitude of events, including an error (that was awarded to him and inevitably discounted the two runs that would have been attributed to him) and two hard-hit singles off the bats of Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor.