TORONTO — Mariano Rivera didn’t flush a save attempt for the first time last night.
It only felt that way.
“You know he is not perfect but close to it,” Mark Teixeira said of the iconic Yankees closer.
In his first seven save chances of the young season, Rivera was perfect. The eighth? Not even close.
Staked to a two-run lead in the ninth against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, Rivera gave up two runs that forced the game into extra innings, where the hosts copped a 6-5 victory in 10 innings that was witnessed by 25,250.
“It shouldn’t happen, especially when the team gives you a two-run lead,” Rivera said.
Going into last night’s action he had converted 566 of 633 regular-season chances, and had allowed just four baserunners in 8 1/3 innings this year.
“Mo is as close to perfect in those situations as you can be,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We will see it from time to time, but you don’t expect to see it. We will bounce back, and Mo will bounce back.”
Rivera’s nightmarish ninth wasted several positives. David Robertson got A.J. Burnett out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth with two strikeouts. Teixeira and Curtis Granderson homered to hike the Yankees’ MLB-leading total to 29 in 15 games. Joba Chamberlain and Rafael Soriano were successful in getting the game to Rivera.
After Rivera wild-pitched one run home and watched John McDonald perfectly execute a safety squeeze that tied the score, 5-5, he sent the game into extra innings by inducing Corey Patterson to ground into an inning-ending double play.
But that meant Ivan Nova, who has been shaky in his past two starts, had to relieve Rivera in the 10th. He gave up a leadoff single to Juan Encarnacion before getting two long, loud outs. Nova, who will start Saturday or Sunday in Baltimore, was not as fortunate with Travis Snider, who doubled over Granderson’s head in center to easily score Encarnacion with the winning run.
Since Snider is a left-handed hitter and Girardi had lefty Boone Logan in the bullpen, the manager had an option — just like he did in the sixth, when he stuck with Robertson and Snider fanned. Righty Juan Rivera was on the Blue Jays’ bench.
“We knew if we brought in Boone they were going to pinch-hit,” Girardi said.
The tying run scored when Teixeira fielded the squeeze bunt and threw home. He never really had a chance.
“It’s a great play,” Teixeira said. “When you run it well, it’s almost impossible to defend.”
Rivera was most ticked about the wild pitch to Jose Bautista on a 3-0 count that made it 5-4. Rivera was being careful with the slugger, but the fourth pitch was so far down and away that Russell Martin, who had a sensational night blocking Burnett’s breaking balls, could not stop it.
“I held the ball too long. I wanted to go away, and it went way away and ended up a wild pitch,” Rivera said. “I was upset with that one.”
There were other culprits. The Yankees went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and Burnett made a costly throwing error and issued five walks.
Yet the sight of Rivera blowing a save — with a two-run lead, no less — is the snapshot everybody takes from the killer loss.