At least this time the Yankees won.
After blowing a save to the Red Sox on Sunday and taking the loss Tuesday against the Angels, Mariano Rivera gave a up a three-run home run in the ninth inning yesterday, but still picked up the save as the Yankees beat the Angels, 6-5.
Afterwards, Rivera said he wasn’t worried, and neither was manager Joe Girardi.
The man who hit the home run, Russell Branyan, however, had a different take.
“For a three-game stretch, I’ve never seen him get hit this way,” said Branyan, who has been in the majors since 1998.
Rivera may not have been worried, but he admitted to being unhappy with his performance — and he had reason to be. His first pitch was swatted over the right-field wall by Branyan, marking the third straight outing in which the Yankees closer allowed a run and the second straight appearance in which he gave up a homer.
The last time Rivera surrendered earned runs in three straight outings was last Sept. 19, 20 and 26, and the last time he allowed homers in consecutive appearances was on April 24 and 29, 2009.
Rivera flushed Sunday’s game against the Red Sox in a game the Yankees lost in 10 innings and lost Tuesday’s game against the Angels when he allowed a two-run homer to Bobby Abreu. Then came yesterday.
“I’m not happy,” Rivera said. “I have to come in there and do my job.”
After Robinson Cano’s seventh-inning grand slam broke a 2-2 tie, Rivera entered in the ninth with two on, one out and the Yankees up 6-2 — and watched Branyan blast a cutter that didn’t cut in that much. That made it 6-5, but Rivera retired Erick Aybar and Alberto Callaspo to close out the win. It marked his 30th save of the season, matching Trevor Hoffman for a record 14 straight campaigns of at least 30.
Rivera, who will turn 42 in November, insisted he’s completely healthy and said he doesn’t have much to work on, pointing out he’s only missing on one pitch per outing and not 10 pitches per outing.
“I’m not concerned at all,” Rivera said. “We always have this conversation for 16-17 years.”
Indeed, even last September, when Rivera surrendered runs in three straight outings, he responded with two scoreless games to end the regular season — and then six scoreless outings in the playoffs.
“I don’t think Mo’s forgotten how to pitch,” Girardi said.
Asked when he’d become concerned about Rivera, Girardi replied, “If it happened for a month.”
Derek Jeter, who has played alongside Rivera since 1995, also isn’t panicking.
“I don’t worry about him,” Jeter said. “We won the game.”
Heading into yesterday, Branyan had been 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in his career versus Rivera.
“It was a cutter in. Have I seen Mariano’s cutter better? Yes,” Branyan said. “Tampa [Bay] is coming in [tonight] and they could feel, ‘Hey we can get this guy. He’s struggling right now.’ But Mariano is not going to feel that way because he’s a pro. He’s done this for 20 years. He knows what he has to do to get back on track.
“He could go from tomorrow to the end of the year and not give up another run. He’s got that capability.”
Cano’s slam in the seventh was set up by a critical Angels error. With the game tied 2-2 on two-run shots from Callaspo and Curtis Granderson, the Yankees had runners on first and second with two outs when Mark Teixeira hit a grounder to second. Maicer Itzuris mishandled it, loading the bases for Cano, who drilled a laser off the second-deck façade in right.
Rafael Soriano earned the win, and David Robertson pitched a perfect eighth. When Cory Wade allowed hits to two of the first three batters to start the ninth, Rivera emerged.
“He’s a guy that you say, ‘Lemme get ready for a ground ball and 1-2-3, the game’s over,’ ” Cano said. “But he’s going through a bad situation and that’s going to make him stronger and a better person.”
Additional reporting by Kevin Kernan