CLEVELAND — At the most critical moment of this Yankees season, the only thing Clay Holmes threw Saturday night was his manager under the bus.

Aaron Boone said his closer was “capable” of pitching in Game 4. But “I felt like he was in jeopardy” if the righty was used for the second straight day and third time in five days after enduring a shoulder strain late in the season.

Holmes said he never conveyed that he was not available to his manager or anyone else with the Yankees. Instead, he explained multiple times that he “woke up [Saturday]” prepared to pitch and “I was ready to go and pitch if needed.”

He was needed. The pivotal Game 3 of this Division Series was slip, slip, slipping away under the unrelenting offensive jabs of the Guardians. But instead of Holmes — who never even warmed up in this game — Boone stretched Wandy Peralta to a third inning after the lefty had retired the last batter of the seventh and gone 1-2-3 in the eighth.

But a couple of hits off Peralta led Boone to turn to Clarke Schmidt, who — at best — straddles the line of the Yankee manager’s circle of bullpen trust. The Yankees began the ninth with a 5-3 lead. They lost 6-5. The Guardians lead two games to one and Gerrit Cole might have to pitch a complete game Sunday night in Game 4 to save a threadbare bullpen and rescue this Yankee season.

“It stings right now, and it’s raw,” Boone said. “You’re frustrated because you’re so close to the end there, but we have got to turn the page. It’s not allowed to be the case [to wallow]. We have got Gerrit going [Sunday] We expect to come out here and win.”

The Yankees had been 167-0 in the postseason in their history when leading by multiple runs entering the ninth inning. This fall to 167-1 was months in the making, though. When Chad Green and then Michael King were lost for the season. Zack Britton never made it fully back. Aroldis Chapman lost his confidence and then went AWOL, banishing himself from the team. Scott Effross and Ron Marinaccio endured late injuries that made them like Green and King — valuable pieces now out.

Boone was left with Holmes, Peralta, Jonathan Loaisiga and Lou Trivino in his trusted group — and Holmes and Peralta only made it back from injury at the conclusion of the regular season. All but Trivino pitched in a winning Game 1 on Tuesday. All four pitched in a 10-inning loss Friday. All but Holmes pitched in Saturday’s “gut-wrenching” (Boone’s words) loss.

Boone has not used a reliever three straight days all year. It is hard to believe Peralta, so valuable to turn around Jose Ramirez and attack lefties Josh Naylor and Andres Gimenez, will be available even in a must-win game. Loaisiga has not exactly been a health certainty in his career. That leaves Trivino and, Boone said, he expects Holmes to be available Sunday.

This is a tricky region. A manager is tasked with both winning and protecting his players — often from themselves, especially at the most meaningful moments. Boone described Holmes as having “normal” soreness “and nothing we are alarmed at.” Still, he labeled Holmes as only available in an “emergency situation.”

But did this qualify? Seal this win and the Yanks would have two games to clinch a third ALCS meeting since 2017 with the Astros. He already was pushing Peralta. His escape hatch was Schmidt, not exactly someone who has built up belief he can handle this kind of heat.

“The decision wasn’t mine,” Holmes said.

Yankees Game 3 starter Luis Severino, who is back from his own late-season injury, said: “He’s our closer. So of course I was surprised. I don’t know if he was down. There shouldn’t be people down in the playoffs. That’s something you guys need to ask Boone or [pitching coach Matt] Blake to see what was going on there.”

Did there even need to be a Holmes decision? Or did the Yankees not do enough to avoid this. The Guardians pecked away at Severino over the first two innings and Domingo German wamed up as six of the first 10 Cleveland hitters reached safely and produced two runs.

But Aaron Judge, who had been dropped from first to second in the lineup, awoke from what was nine hitless at-bats this series versus the Guardians with eight strikeouts. He hit a two-run homer in the third. That seemed to take the uneasiness away from the Yankees. Oswaldo Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the fifth. Severino worked perfect through the third, fourth and fifth. Harrison Bader homered in the seventh.

However, Isiah Kiner-Falefa misplayed a ball in the first and sixth to lead to runs against Severino. In the ninth — for a second straight game — the left-field novice Cabrera could not reach a floater in front of him. Kiner-Falefa threw to the wrong base and ninth-place hitter Myles Straw had a one-out double. A Steven Kwan single convinced Boone Peralta had endured enough.

But now there was no Holmes to try to extinguish this. Schmidt was greeted by two singles to make it 5-4 with the bases loaded. He struck out Naylor and got ahead 0-2 on Oscar Gonzalez. He stuck with a fourth straight slider, got too much of the plate and Gonzalez slashed a two-run single up the middle to win the game,

Cleveland took this win without using the best of its pen. They are all available Sunday. Who knows about Holmes and the best of the Yankee crew? Who knows what lingers when Boone and one of his key pitchers are not in agreement on what was such a pivotal day on the Yankee calendar.

The Yankee season is on the line 24 hours after disaster on the field and disarray off it. Can the Yankees find relief for it all?