Today, under the brilliant blue skies over Yankee Stadium, hot-hitting Robinson Cano made the Los Angeles Angels pay dearly for an error by Macier Izturis, after the second baseman muffed an easy ground ball that should have ended the seventh inning. The goof led to the winning margin of a Yankees victory. The only grey cloud in sight, on this sunny day, was the one hovering Izturis' head the rest of the game.
With the score tied, 2-2, and two outs, Mark Teixeira squibbed a soft blooper towards second. Izturis bobbled, then dropped the ball after it hit him in the chest. Teixeira was safe at first and the Yankees had the bases loaded. Hot hitting Cano came to the plate and sent the next pitch from Scott Downs over the right field fence for the fifth grand slam of his career and a 6-2 Yankees lead.
The Yankees held on to win the game and the series, 2-1, from the Angels but the 6-5 victory didn't come without any trepidation about Mariano Rivera. The Yankees closer had another "blip" in the ninth inning after another fine start from starter Bartolo Colon.
Colon went six strong innings although he ended up with his second straight no-decision. The rotund righty continues to build on one of the great comeback stories in the major leagues this season.
The only slip-up in Colon's day was giving up a two-run to Alberto Callaspo in the fifth inning which gave the Angels a 2-0 lead. Fourteen of Colon's 18 outs came from strikeouts or infield outs. Colon finished the day going six innings, allowing 2 runs and striking out three.
The Yankees once again called on the smoking bat of Curtis Granderson. The Yankees centerfielder skied--and I mean sent into orbit-- his 32nd home run of the season off Angels starter, Tyler Chatwood. The homer knocked in Derek Jeter to tie the score. It was Granderson's fourth dinger in three games.
Everything looked good for the Yankees after Robinson's curtain call. That was until Rivera was called in to bail out an ineffective Cory Wade with one out in the ninth.
Rivera came in after Wade struck out Vernon Wells and allowed two hits which put two men on base. The Hall of Fame closer was coming off a blown save and a loss-- "a blip" as manager Joe Girardi calls them-- and a lot of hand-wringing by Yankees fans. Rivera only needed to get the final two outs.
Digging in at the plate was the Angels pinch-hitter Russell Branyan. Branyan-- who had eight home-runs in 47 at-bats at Yankee Stadium-- immediately sent Rivera's first pitch into the right field stands to close the score to 6-5.
Rivera did a half-snarl/half-grin as he watched the ball sail over his head and into the hushed crowd. Uh-oh. Could what was once called a blip, now be an epidemic many anxious fans were probably wondering. Things were getting interesting-- and too close.
Not to worry. The usually reliable Rivera got the next batter to ground out and the final out was a short fly to left which Brett Gardner gathered in as he crashed into the box-seat wall.
Game over and Rivera picks up his 30th save of the season for a record-extending 14th time.
It's been a long time since Yankees fans held their breath when Rivera was on the mound, if ever.
It was the ninth straight home series the Yankees have won and gave the Yankees a comfortable eight game lead over the Angels in the wild-card race.
Except for Wade, the bullpen was nearly perfect. Rafael Soriano continued to play like the 45-save closer the Yankees spent $35 million for. He handled the seventh inning handily but gave up his first hit in five appearances since coming off the DL on July 30.
Dave Robertson was perfect in the eighth.
After the game, Girardi was asked if he was worried about Rivera. The manager joked, "If it happened for a month."
Girardi continued to downplay the anxiety surrounding Rivera and believes hitters are just being more aggressive with Rivera so they don't fall behind.
"He's close to the perfect closer as we'll ever see," said the manager. "[But] He's not perfect"
Rivera said he wasn't concerned about his weapon of choice-- the cutter.
"I didn't lose velocity, " said the 41 year-old Rivera. "I put the ball where I want it, that's about it."
Asked if he sees any trend to his last three outings, Rivera shook his head.
"It's always only one pitch, stressed the closer. "It's one pitch, but it can't be like that."
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