06/29: Rivera Records 500th Save in Yanks' Win Over Mets
Posted by: Seamus
Mariano Rivera did something that only one other person (Trevor Hoffman) has done before, which is pick up the 500th save in his career, as the Yankees capped off a sweep of the Mets with a 4–2 victory Sunday night.
Aside from the amazing milestone, Rivera also walked in a run to record the first run batted in in his career. All three of the Yankees' other runs came in the 1st inning.
Chien-Ming Wang allowed 2 runs in 5 and 1/3 innings and got his first win in what was probably his best outing to this point in the season. Wang turned it over to Phil Hughes, who pitched an inning and a third of scoreless ball. Brian Bruney also recorded two outs before handing the ball to Mo in the 8th for a four-out save.
I've never been a huge fan of the save as a stat, but it certainly takes more than just any old pitcher to record 500 of them. This is Mariano's 14th year as a Yankee reliever and his 13th as the team's closer. For him to reach 500 saves means that he has had to record 36 saves per year over 14 years, even assuming he doesn't record another save this season. That number is just insane, especially considering the shelf life of most relief pitchers in baseball.
The Yankees will have Monday off before finally returning to American League baseball as they'll take on the Seattle Mariners Tuesday evening. Joba Chamberlain will take the mound for the Yanks and his counterpart will be Brandon Morrow (I didn't even know he was a starter). Game starts at 7:05 ET.
Recap records: Patrick: 21–11, Seamus: 17–14, Andrew: 5–7
Aside from the amazing milestone, Rivera also walked in a run to record the first run batted in in his career. All three of the Yankees' other runs came in the 1st inning.
Chien-Ming Wang allowed 2 runs in 5 and 1/3 innings and got his first win in what was probably his best outing to this point in the season. Wang turned it over to Phil Hughes, who pitched an inning and a third of scoreless ball. Brian Bruney also recorded two outs before handing the ball to Mo in the 8th for a four-out save.
I've never been a huge fan of the save as a stat, but it certainly takes more than just any old pitcher to record 500 of them. This is Mariano's 14th year as a Yankee reliever and his 13th as the team's closer. For him to reach 500 saves means that he has had to record 36 saves per year over 14 years, even assuming he doesn't record another save this season. That number is just insane, especially considering the shelf life of most relief pitchers in baseball.
The Yankees will have Monday off before finally returning to American League baseball as they'll take on the Seattle Mariners Tuesday evening. Joba Chamberlain will take the mound for the Yanks and his counterpart will be Brandon Morrow (I didn't even know he was a starter). Game starts at 7:05 ET.
Recap records: Patrick: 21–11, Seamus: 17–14, Andrew: 5–7
Patrick wrote: