Clay Holmes, the starting pitcher, is settling into a groove.
The right-hander had a bit of an up-and-down beginning in his transition to the rotation, but he’s been spectacular for the Mets over his past two starts — the last of which came in Sunday’s series finale victory over the Cardinals.
Holmes pitched well enough to qualify for a win, but he settled for the no decision.
He had to work around traffic right away — as a leadoff walk and a Willson Contreras single put two on with two outs in the top of the first, but he was able to get lefty Alec Burleson swinging to end the inning.
He retired the next six batters in order before facing more trouble in the fourth, as the Cardinals put two runners on with just one out this time, but he used a punch out and fly out to again dance out of danger.
St. Louis was finally able to get to Holmes in the sixth, as the red-hot Brendan Donovan led off the inning with a double and came in to score a few batters later after advancing to third on a wild pitch.
It looked like his day was going to come to a tough ending two batters later as Jordan Walker crushed a high fly to left, but Brandon Nimmo made a terrific leaping catch in front of the fence — helping Holmes get through six innings for the first time as a Met.
He allowed just the one run on four hits while walking two and striking out six.
“On a day it was windy and the two-seam was moving, he had to use all his weapons,” Carlos Mendoza said. “The changeup, the four-seam, the cutter, the sweep and slider, and did not shy away from the two-seam when he needed to — that’s what you call pitching.
“For a guy who is starting to make that transition and when you see it this early, that’s pretty impressive. Just to have the feel for it and his ability to trust the pitches that are kind of new for him — now that he’s going out there and giving us depth, it’s pretty impressive.”
With each turn through the rotation, Holmes just continues improving.
The former Yankees closer has now struck out six or more batters in four of his five outings to begin the season — and he’s allowed just one earned run in each of his past two starts, bringing his ERA down to 3.16 on the year.
He’s starting to look more and more like the pitcher the Mets saw during his terrific spring training — but he also knows there’s still more work to be done.
“There’s been a lot of growth and a lot of learning on the fly,” Holmes said. “I still feel like I’m hitting my stride a little bit — you can feel the improvements. I’m starting to get a feel for my stuff and how to use it in this role.
“I’m starting to bounce back better in between starts, and I just feel like with each time out I’m getting better — it’s nice to see the work paying off a little bit, but still feel like there’s room to grow here.”
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