… after Zoilo Almonte (above) could only watch as Adam Jones’ (far right) shot cleared the wall for a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the ninth of the Yankees’ 2-1 loss at the Stadium. (Getty Images)
SWEAT IT OUT: Mariano Rivera (left) sits in the dugout in the bottom of the ninth inning after Zoilo Almonte (right) could only watch as Adam Jones’ shot cleared the wall for a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the ninth of the Yankees’ 2-1 loss at the Stadium. (
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Chris Stewart has been behind the plate for a Mariano Rivera blown save before.
On May 28 at Citi Field, for instance, he watched the Mets come back and beat Rivera.
But what happened yesterday took him by surprise.
“This one was different,” Stewart said of Rivera’s ineffectiveness in the ninth inning of the Yankees’ 2-1 loss to the Orioles at the Stadium.
“Even when he gets beat, like with the Mets, it’s usually because of broken-bat hits and weird things going on,” Stewart said. “Today was funny. They earned this one. They squared him up and actually hit a couple of balls hard.”
The most meaningful was by Adam Jones, who smacked a two-run shot into the left-field seats with one out in the ninth on a two-seam fastball that caught too much of the plate.
“I wanted it more in,” said Rivera, who blew just his second save in 31 chances this season. “I didn’t get in enough.”
And just like that, the Yankees’ pursuit of a seventh-straight win was thwarted, the loss dropping them into fourth place in the AL East, a half-game behind the Orioles and surging Rays.
Hiroki Kuroda shut down Baltimore over seven innings before departing after 88 pitches on another sweltering afternoon in The Bronx, with on-field temperatures reaching the mid-120s. And when David Robertson tossed a perfect eighth, the Yankees handed a 1-0 lead to Rivera.
“It was a good situation,” Kuroda said through a translator. “Robertson in the eighth and Mariano in the ninth. If we don’t get that win, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
The bats didn’t help. The Yankees again failed to produce anything but singles and scored just one run — on a second-inning sacrifice fly by Eduardo Nunez.
After beating Jim Johnson with two runs in the ninth on Friday, the Yankees went quietly in the final frame yesterday.
Because Vernon Wells pinch-hit for Travis Hafner in the eighth, manager Joe Girardi had no legitimate options to use for light-hitting journeyman Luis Cruz against Johnson.
Cruz, like Lyle Overbay before him, struck out before Nunez grounded to first to end the game.
“We’ve dealt with it all year,” Girardi said of the team’s thin bench. “We’ve had a lot of injuries, or things would probably be a little bit different.”
And as they have been for years, the Yankees continue to be spoiled by Rivera, named to the All-Star Game for a final time Saturday.
But after 41 consecutive conversions at Yankee Stadium, Rivera finally got beat.
“They were putting the ball in play,” said Rivera (1-2). “That’s the way it is. It’s too bad. Hiroki pitched a tremendous game. We should have won that game.”
After retiring Manny Machado on a grounder to second, Rivera allowed a long foul ball to right to Nick Markakis that just missed being a game-tying homer. Markakis then singled up the middle, bringing up Jones.
“I was trying to get a ground ball and he hit it too hard,” said Rivera, who wore his socks high like Robertson — trying to get his fellow right-hander into the All-Star Game on the final fan vote.
“I don’t think I helped him at all today,” Rivera said with a chuckle.
He can afford to laugh after all his success, but the loss showed again just how small the Yankees’ margin for error is as they await the returns of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson.
“You expect him to throw the ball exactly where he wants it,” Stewart said. “So when he doesn’t, it’s almost amazing. But today was one of those days.”
dan.martin@nypost.com