Mariano Rivera was not the usual automatic but he got the tough outs when he needed them most. Mo enetered in the ninth with the Yankees leading 4-2.
Kenji Johjima led off with a double up the gap in left center as Rivera left the pitch out over the plate. Yuniesky Betancourt then singled to left on a pitch that was intended to be further inside but Mo left it out over the plate. Rivera's nemesis from last season Eduardo Perez was next up to bat. Perez has gone from Tampa Bay last year to Cleveland this year and was just picked up by Seattle recently. Perez touched Mo last year for a home run that resulted in a blown save. Mo got ahead 0-2 and Perez had two good swings with one swing and a miss and the other fouled back. Rivera went inside on the 0-2 pitch and it looked off the plate but Mo got the call for the first out. The dangerous Ichiro was next and Mo jammed him with a cutter to induce a pop up to Jeter for the second out. Willie Bloomquist was the last hope and he worked the count to 3-2 but the next pitch was a high fast ball at 96 mph which Bloomquist swung and missed to end the game.
It was the 22nd save of the season for Mariano Rivera and his ERA now stands at 1.98.
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