Mariano Rivera entered the game in the eighth with the score tied at five. Kyle Farnsworth started the inning and retired the first batter on a bouncer back to the mound but bent over in pain after throwing the ball to first and left the game with back spasms.
Rivera entered and was allowed as much time as necessary to warm up due to the injury to Farnsworth. The first batter he faced was former Yankee Nick Johnson and he retired him on a fly ball down the left field line which Jeter ran down just inside the foul line. Zimmerman was the next batter and Mo caught him looking to end the eighth.
In the ninth Bernie Williams led off with a homer off Nats closer Chad Cordero and the Yankees added another run on a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 7-5.
In the bottom of the ninth Jose Guillen led off by flying out to center for the first out. Brian Schneider then bounced weakly to first which Phillips handled unassisted and then Damian Jackson grounded to first on a check swing with Mo covering to end the game.
Rivera is now 4-3 on the season with 13 saves and his ERA now stands at 1.82.
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