The Yankees came back twice to tie the Phillies at 3 and 5 but their third comeback was the charm as they scored four in the eighth to take a 9-7 lead and hand the ball over to Mo.
Rivera faced David Bell to start the inning and got him to bounce back to the mound for the first out. Sal Fasano then struck out before Shane Victorino hit a broken bat grounder to second to end the inning. In the top of the ninth Rivera made his first regular season plate appearance and struck out. Mo had three postseason at bats during his career.
The ninth was a little more eventful. Mo got Jimmy Rollins to ground to Giambi right at the bag for the first out. Chase Utley was jammed but managed to loop a ball into right for a single. Bobby Abreu then struck out swinging for the second out. Pinch hitter David Dellucci blooped a single to left to put the tying runs on base. The stage was set as the next batter up was Ryan Howard who had homered twice and also added a triple to temporarily put the Phillies ahead at 7-5. He had seven RBI in all. Mo jammed him with a cutter and he grounded to second to end the game.
For Rivera the save was his 14th of the season and 393rd of his career. His season ERA is now at 2.17.
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