DENVER — In the span of five batters David Robertson recorded two colossal strikeouts with knee-locking curveballs to get the game to Mariano Rivera.
Standing at his locker following yesterday’s 3-1 victory over the Rockies in front of 40,972 at Coors Field, Robertson was asked if whiffing pinch-hitter Todd Helton to end the seventh with two on or Carlos Gonzalez for the final out of the eighth with a runner on second was bigger.
“Helton, because at the time they had momentum on their side and if I make a mistake he can tie the ballgame up or take the lead,’’ Robertson said. “I knew I had to make quality pitches. Helton is a good hitter. If I made a mistake he can hit it in the seats.’’
Robertson thought fanning Helton was bigger than Gonzalez but the latter was important too since it turned a two-run lead over to Rivera.
Rivera recorded the final three outs for his 13th save in as many chances to finish an outstanding job by the Yankees’ bullpen after a one-hour and 59-minute rain delay forced CC Sabathia out of the game following four innings in which he retired the final 10 batters he faced.
The win, combined with losses by the Red Sox and Orioles last night, catapulted the Yankees into first place in the AL East.
Adam Warren, who posted his first big league victory, took over for Sabathia and provided 1 2/3 innings of shutout work. Boone Logan surfaced in the sixth after Warren walked two with two outs and got Gonzalez to ground out. Preston Claiborne induced Nolan Arenado to hit into a 1-6-3 double play in the seventh and Robertson followed the raw rookie and struck out Helton.
“It’s exciting to watch these kids come in and throw strikes,’’ said Sabathia, who gave up a run in the first and could have come back if the delay didn’t stretch almost to two hours.
Sabathia and the five relievers had to be fine because the Yankees didn’t hit for the third straight game. Vernon Wells’ first-inning RBI single, Chris Stewart’s fourth-inning sacrifice fly and Robinson Cano’s solo homer in the fifth accounted for the Yankees’ runs.
In the three games the Yankees scored six runs to the Rockies’ five.
“Everyone did a good job, everyone had a part here,’’ Robertson said of the bullpen supplying nine scoreless innings in the three-game series the Yankees won, 2-1.
In a perfect world, manager Joe Girardi stays away from using Robertson for more than an inning.
But Robertson had six days off due to a balky left hamstring and threw just 13 pitches in Wednesday night’s victory. Plus, Claiborne was working in his third big league game.
“He has been in that situation before and Preston hasn’t been in a lot of those situations up here so I thought I would just go with Robbie,’’ Girardi said.
The move paid off twice when Robertson fanned Helton and then Gonzalez. All that was left for Rivera to do was protect a two-run advantage.
After retiring the first two batters, Rivera plunked Jordan Pacheco with a 0-2 pitch. That gave the Rockies a ray of hope but Rivera quickly killed it by feeding Josh Rutledge a grounder ball to Jayson Nix at short for the final out.
“Just a great job starting with Adam Warren, everyone contributing,’’ Girardi said. “They made some big pitches when they had to so I give them a lot of credit.’’