quentinMo Gets 601, Ties Hoffman For All Time In Saves
September 18th 2011 05:05
Rivera tied the major league saves record with Trevor Hoffman, while preserving the Yankees' 7-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. This game with Rivera's 42nd save of the season, but he said “To me it was normal.” With the Yankees trying to clinch the AL East, the manager, Girardi, wasn't interested in hearing about the 601 career save for Rivera. Girardi said, “Right now, they're all big for us.” He also added, “602 is the big one because it just puts the final stamp on it that he's the greatest closer of all time.” Rivera will have chance to break the all time save record, tomorrow, but if he doesn't, he'll likely reach it sometime during an eight-game homestand that begins Monday. Rivera said he would to get the save at home, but he doesn't think like that. He will try to seize the moment on Sunday if given the opportunity.
In this game, Rivera struck out Colby Rasmus to start the ninth inning, then retired Brett Lawrie on a broken bat grounder to first. He got his last out by getting Eric Thames on fly ball out to center. After the game, Rivera was hugging and shaking hands with teammate, and Curtis Anderson, the center fielder who caught the last out, flipped the souvenir ball to Rivera. When Rivera got to his locker, he was surround by the media, in which Rivera told about his record pursuit, “I am uncomfortable because I don't have this much attention at all. I would like you guys to just leave it alone. That would be good.” Rivera has been in the league for 17 years. One of his teammates, Alex Rodriguez, said “Mo is awesome. You just run out of things to say about him. Every save he's had in his career meant something, and tonight was another example of that.” The Blue Jay manager, John Farrell, called Rivera “the standard by which all are compared.” “If you're a fan of baseball and the game, you appreciate how good he is, how consistent he is.” The tying save came in Rivera's 60th game of this season, surpassing former Yankees teammate, Mike Stanton, with a record 14 seasons of 60 games.
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