The New York Yankees have completely dominated the Minnesota Twins at home since 2002 with a record of 25-3 before Sunday afternoon’s game. It looked like the Yankees were going to win again yesterday afternoon when the unimaginable happened.

The game was in the bag, Mariano Rivera was summoned in the bottom of the eight inning to record a four out save. Rivera has been perfect all season, he didn’t let up any runs in all his save oppurtunites… until yesterday. Viewers might have thought they were dreaming, but it is true, Rivera facing Jason Kubel with the bases loaded let up a grand slam! Rivera has only let up four grand slams in his career and the last time Rivera let up a grand slam at home was back in 1995! With Kubel’s grand slam, he stopped Rivera’s consecutive save streak at home with 51, tied with Eric Gagne.

In the bottom of the 9th inning the Yankees tried to rally back. Teixiera got up as the tying run with two outs and a runner on first and second and struck out looking on a pitch that was clearly inside but ruled a strike. The Yankees haven’t brought out any pies yet this year, they had a chance yesterday to bring their walk-off magic of last year back, but they fell short.

Rivera is not a machine, he is human. It was bound to happen sometime. Sometimes he is so dominate it is completely shocking when he fails, especially in the fashion that he did yesterday. Every year this happens and fans think, “Oh no, he’s falling apart! Is he at the end of his line?” Then by the end of the year fans forget that his few early season mishaps even happened. Rivera may have a few more bad games to come but his good games will outweigh the bad ones so much that they will be forgotten like usual.

The Twins finally got the monkey off their back defeating the Yankess 6-3. (Yankees.com)

by Eric Heyer at the Sports Fan Blog Network

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In his 15 seasons with the New York Yankees, closer Mariano Rivera has savored many October victories, but he also endured the bitterness of postseason defeats. He was the MVP of the 1999 World Series against the Atlanta Braves, for example, but was also the losing pitcher in the Yankees’ heartbreaking loss to the Arizona D-backs in Game 7 of the 2001 Fall Classic.


However, now that the Yankees are once again in position to make the playoffs after being left out in the cold last year for the first time since 1993 (they would have likely made the playoffs in 1994 had the players’ strike not ended the season prematurely), all of those experiences — the good and the bad — are put off to the side. According to Rivera, the only way to look is forward.

“The team’s mentality is to work hard and not think about what’s happened in the past,” said Rivera, who recorded his 500th career save in late June. “You can’t do anything about that. You simply have to work hard to keep going.”


Click here to read the full article – By Nathalie Alonso of MLB.com

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Rivera’s milestone save comes after Jeter scores two runs

The Yankees’ mission objective from the first days of Spring Training is to get to the season’s finish line, and the club’s three representatives in the Midsummer Classic had a hand Tuesday in helping to secure home-field advantage in those games.

Click here to read the full article – By Bryan Hoch of MLB.com

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Major League Baseball makes sure to provide all players with itineraries for the All-Star Game experience, but it might as well advise them to just direct their questions to Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera.

When it comes to handling the Midsummer Classic, perhaps no one knows this annual practice better than the two veteran Yankees, who are enjoying their 10th All-Star selections this week — the only active players to represent their current clubs that many times.

Click here to read the full article – By Bryan Hoch of MLB.com

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Mariano Rivera has 500 saves — and one precious RBI. Guess which feat he was most excited about.

On a New York night that belonged to baseball’s most unflappable closer, Rivera became the second reliever to reach the 500-save milestone when the Yankees held off the punchless Mets 4-2 Sunday for a Subway Series sweep. He joined Milwaukee’s Trevor Hoffman, who has 571 saves, as the only major leaguers with 500. The biggest surprise, though: Rivera drew a bases-loaded walk to add a ninth-inning insurance run.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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New York Yankees Sports Memorabilia
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Below are links to memorabilia available for Mariano Rivera.

McFarlane Mariano Rivera New York Yankees MLB Series 18 Action Figure

Mariano Rivera New York Yankees MLB Big Head Bobble