Mariano Rivera Didn’t Exactly Close Out Jason Kubel and the Twins

↵↵Mariano Rivera is probably the greatest closer in the history of baseball; at least, he’s the first person most would throw out in that argument. His horrific outing today just proves that even the best closers can have fiery implosions that make the Hindenberg look like sparklers.↵

↵↵Rivera entered the Yankees’ game against the Twins with two out and the bases loaded in the eighth inning. Three straight balls to begin the at-bat set the tone for his battle with Jim Thome, and four pitches later, Rivera had walked in a run to cut the Yankees’ lead to 3-2. Then Jason Kubel took Rivera deep, giving the Twins a 6-3 lead; it was Rivera’s first blown save at home since 2007, and the first grand slam he’s given up since July 14, 2002.↵

↵↵So, yeah, that was kind of weird. But it happens, even to the best players baseball’s ever seen. And one of the beauties of this strange, strange sport is that even though Rivera had a catastrophically bad day, it counts for less than one percent of the Yankees’ season.↵

↵↵I think Rivera and the Yankees will be fine.↵

↵