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Former Alabama prep standout earns World Series pitching victory

Former Slocomb High School star Clay Holmes was the winning pitcher in the New York Yankees' 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night.

The Yankees stayed alive with the win and now trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven Fall Classic.

Holmes took the mound with two outs to start the fifth inning with a runner on first, giving New York a 5-4 lead after the Dodgers scored two runs in the frame off starter Luis Gil and reliever Tim Hill.

Holmes got left fielder Teoscar Hernandez to fly out to end the inning.

Holmes returned for the sixth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning. The right-hander struck out third baseman Max Muncy and center fielder Kike Hernandez and gave second baseman Gavin Lux a groundout.

Because Gil failed to pitch five innings, the Yankees' starter was ineligible for the pitching win and the official scorer awarded it to Holmes.

Holmes has appeared in all three of New York's World Series games and all but one of New York's 12 contests this postseason. He now has a pitching win in every series for the Yankees. Holmes was the winning pitcher on October 5 in Game 1, when New York defeated the Kansas City Royals in four games of the best-of-five American League Division Series, and on October 15, in Game 2, when the Yankees defeated Cleveland Indians won five games in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.

In 11.2 innings this offseason, Holmes scored three runs on eight hits and one walk while recording six strikeouts.

Game 5 of the World Series is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:08 p.m. CDT at Yankee Stadium. FOX will televise the game.

In his final two seasons at Slocomb, Holmes struck out .210 in 144.3 innings. After being named an All-State selection in 2011, he had planned to play at Auburn. But he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being drafted in the ninth round.

Holmes became the fifth Alabama high school pitcher to earn a pitching victory in the World Series:

· Virgil Trucks (Tarrant City) won a game for the Detroit Tigers against the Chicago Cubs in 1945.

· Early Wynn (Geneva County) won a game for the Chicago White Sox against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959.

· Clay Carroll (Chilton County) won a game against the Baltimore Orioles in 1970 and a game against the Boston Red Sox for the Cincinnati Reds in 1975.

· Jimmy Key (SR Butler in Huntsville) won one game for the New York Yankees against the Atlanta Braves in 1996 and two games for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Braves in 1992.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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