Rivera Not in Vintage Form

New York Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera began stretching in the seventh inning Tuesday. An inning later, he was throwing in the bullpen, preparing for his moment.

Finally, in the ninth, he jogged in from the bullpen, receiving a Bronx cheer from the many Yankee fans in attendance. By the end of the inning, it was the Angel fans who were yelling.

Rivera is the Yankee closer this season, replacing John Wetteland, who is now with the Texas Rangers.

But Rivera, brought in to finish off the Angels, couldn’t close out the victory. The Angels rallied for a run to tie the score, 9-9, and ended up winning, 10-9, in 12 innings Tuesday.

It was not vintage Rivera, who had several hitters in the hole, but couldn’t put them away. This is a guy who struck out 130 batters a year ago, the most ever by a Yankee reliever.

Rivera went two innings, giving up four hits, and had only one strikeout. Still, the problem hasn’t been so much replacing Wetteland as it has finding someone to fill Rivera’s role as the setup man.

Rivera appeared in 61 games and was 8-3 with five saves and a 2.09 earned-run average last season. He finished third in the Cy Young voting.

Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton and David Weathers have all gaffed in relief the last few days. As a result, Torre has not been able to save Rivera until the ninth inning, as he had promised to do all spring.

“I’ve been lying all spring,” Torre told reporters on Monday, after using Rivera for 1 2/3 innings to close out a 5-3 victory over the Angels.

“I don’t want to do it, but when you’re in the situation where there’s pressure and you’re up against it, all of a sudden, there it is. Until we learn what the bullpen is all about, I’m sure the temptation will be there.”

Torre has a better idea after the last two days. Brian Boehringer pitched two scoreless innings Tuesday. He turned the game over to then 6-foot-2, 168-pound Rivera, who couldn’t turn out the lights.

Orlando Palmeiro started the ninth with a single on a two-strike pitch. After a Gary DiSarcina sacrifice, Rivera had Darin Erstad 0-2, then gave up a single. Pinch-hitter Jack Howell followed and was down 0-2, but ended up hitting a sacrifice fly to tie the score.

It was not the overpowering Rivera from last season. Nor was it a Wetteland-type performance.

Wetteland had 43 saves the 1996 regular season and seven more in the postseason--including the final out in Game 6 to clinch the World Series.

But Wetteland left during the off-season, signing a four-year, $23-million contract with the Rangers. To Yankee officials, it seemed like a win-save situation. Rivera was still around, and at $550,000 this season, he seemed like a bargain.

“I was sorry when John left, because he was a friend of mine,” pitcher Andy Pettitte said. “So I can’t say I was happy about the situation. But Mo comes in and does the job.

“I didn’t think the team saw him as a closer. I guess he surprised me and the team, because he showed last year that he is very durable.”

But Tuesday, Rivera looked a little fragile.