'The normal procedure after a closer messes up'

"The normal procedure after a closer messes up...is you wait by your locker and talk to the media."

• 8/28/12, "Sori, not sorry, points finger," ESPNNY.com, A. Marchand

"Unsolicited, Rafael Soriano wanted to make it clear that he didn't duck the media after blowing Monday's save. He said that he waited for Yankees PR director Jason Zillo to come retrieve him from the Yankees player lounge. "He knows where he can find me," Soriano said. "After the game, I wait like 10 minutes in my seat. I did not see him come to me. Maybe the time that he goes there, maybe he was late. Every time when you guys want to talk to me, he asks me." The normal procedure after a closer messes up, like Soriano did with his three-run homer to Colby Rasmus on Monday, is you wait by your locker and talk to the media. The PR director is not normally involved. Besides the rather large paycheck, being the closer can be a thankless job, but Mariano Rivera never failed to talk when he didn't do it well. When a closer has a 1-2-3 ninth, it is usually not news. "Maybe you guys want to talk, maybe not," Soriano said. "I wait for [Zillo] and he did not come to me." "...

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Per Suzyn on Yankee radio post-game, Mariano Rivera was at the stadium on Tuesday and spoke with Soriano.

• 8/28/12, "Yankees closer Rafael Soriano gets advice from Mariano Rivera," Star-Ledger, Jeff Bradley

"After blowing a save chance on Monday night, Rafael Soriano redeemed himself with a 1-2-3 ninth inning tonight to record his 34th save in 37 tries. Soriano admitted to taking the mound with a little bit of hot blood as he was anxious to atone. He also got some words of advice pre-game from Mariano Rivera.

“He told me I was throwing too many sliders,” Soriano said. “(Monday night), I think I threw five sliders in a row. Mariano said, ‘Right now, your fastball is your best pitch.’ So I listened to him and tonight was the best I’ve thrown this year.”

In 11 total pitches last night, Soriano threw eight fastballs and three sliders."...

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• 8/28/12, "Mariano mentors "angry" Soriano," ESPNNY.com, A. Marchand

"Soriano blamed PR director Jason Zillo for the no-show, which wasn't exactly taking responsibility for his own actions. Rivera emphasized to Soriano that he has to speak in good times and especially bad. "Hey, 'What did I tell you last year?'" Soriano said Rivera told him. "You have to talk to these guys. Sometimes you don't have to talk to them because nobody wants to know. So when that thing happened like that, 'Wait and see, because they are going to want to talk to you.' I said, 'Alright, bro, I know you told me last year.'

• I make a mistake because Jason make a mistake."

Girardi, as is his custom, defended his closer for his imperfect all-around performance Monday. "Every once in awhile, they are not going to have that perfect day," Girardi said."...

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