Rivera Gets Out of Jams in both 8th and 9th innings v Indians

"The Yankees led by 5-2 when closer Mariano Rivera took the mound for the bottom of the ninth, after facing two batters in the eighth."

• The drama was just as high in his 8th inning appearance, the score 4-2 (it didn't become 5-2 til the 9th) with 2 runners on base, 2 out, the winning run at the plate. Then he hit Ryan Garko with a pitch, loading the bases. Now the winning run was already on base. He induced a ground-out from the next batter.
• P.S. Ryan Garko HBP 2007 YTD=15. Derek Jeter HBP 2007 YTD=10. I looked it up. Jeter is often mentioned in the media as a good HBP candidate, so I was surprised that Mr. Ryan Garko already has Jeter beaten in this category in 2007 by 50%.

"Jason Michaels and Chris Gomez singled, and Franklin Gutierrez doubled to left to make the score 5-3.

Manager Joe Torre visited the mound — the pitching coach Ron Guidry had been ejected after the seventh — and Rivera recovered, striking out Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore before Casey Blake flied to right to end the game."

• Items in quotes from NY Times article by Tyler Kepner, "Rivera Recovers to Close Out a Sweep for Yankees" 8/12/07.

(Details about the 8th inning may be mentioned in later editions, but I thought I'd point them out now just for future reference. My experience is others will overlook Rivera's extra work done in the 8th inning, just focusing on the 3 run lead in the 9th inning portion. Not that Mr. Kepner was doing that here, but that's what many scanning the article would latch onto. I've also heard some in media say that 8th inning work is "overrated," not explaining why their personal favorite late inning reliever doesn't do it. Although in the past few years, more teams have been asking their "closers" for this extra work).

• For example, the WFAN sports flash at 7:40 PM told about Rivera's 9th but made no mention of the 8th. This interpretation will be accepted by thousands of people.

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