Monday, May 17

"Hey, hey, hey..."

Goodbye.

With two out in the eighth inning and the Yankees leading by two runs, Manager Joe Girardi called on Rivera to relieve Joba Chamberlain with the bases loaded. Rivera walked designated hitter Jim Thome to force in a run before Jason Kubel hit a grand slam over the right-field fence to give the Minnesota Twins a three-run lead on their way to a 6-3 victory.

The 46,628 fans at Yankee Stadium, many standing in expectation of Rivera’s ending the inning, quickly sat down and went silent.
...
As startling as it was to see Rivera fail so spectacularly, it was equally rare that the comeback came from the Twins. One of the best teams in baseball, the Twins had lost 12 straight games to the Yankees, including a three-game sweep in an American League division series last year.

They dropped the first two of the series, but avoided the sweep with Kubel's big klunk.