Surprise: Rivera Blows a Save

Mariano Rivera rarely blows save chances, so it was surprising when the Baltimore Orioles overcame Scott Brosius’ eighth-inning grand slam and defeated the New York Yankees, 7-6, Sunday at Yankee Stadium with a three-run ninth capped by Albert Belle’s two-out, two-run single.

“That was fairly improbable,” Oriole Manager Mike Hargrove said. “I don’t know if he’s lost a game since the ’97 playoffs.”

Rivera (2-1), who blew a Game 4 save opportunity against the Cleveland Indians in the 1997 division series, lost three times last season: to the Orioles on April 15 and to the Mets and Braves during a one-week span in mid-July.

Sunday’s failure was only his second blown save in 35 chances since his loss to Atlanta last July 16.

“To blow a game like that, it’s terrible,” Rivera said. “I feel bad. We should have won the game.”

The Orioles, who stopped a four-game losing streak, took a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning on Harold Baines’ run-scoring double against Jeff Nelson.

But Brosius connected in the bottom half and the Yankees, with Rivera coming in, appeared set to extend their winning streak to seven.

Minnesota 4, Detroit 0--Tom Kelly became the 46th manager to win 1,000 games as Joe Mays shut out the Tigers with a five-hitter at Minneapolis.

Kelly has managed the Twins since Sept. 12, 1986, the longest current tenure in the four major professional sports.

Mays (1-4) retired 19 of the final 21 batters.

Kansas City 12, Chicago 8--Carlos Beltran’s three-run double keyed a five-run eighth as the Royals completed a three-game sweep at Kansas City.

Johnny Damon’s single marked the 10th consecutive game in which he has led off with a hit for the Royals. It’s the longest such streak since 1975. The Elias Sports Bureau was unable to research the obscure statistic before then.

Boston 9, Tampa Bay 7--Jeff Fassero gave up three runs and nine hits in six innings to improve to 4-1.

The left-hander has nearly matched his win total from last season (5-14) in only six starts.

The Red Sox trailed, 3-1, in the bottom of the third when Trot Nixon hit a two-run homer. One out later, Troy O’Leary homered. Carl Everett added a three-run homer in the fifth.

Cleveland 10, Toronto 8--Travis Fryman singled in the go-ahead run in the 12th as the Indians overcame a six-run deficit at Toronto.

Jim Thome led off with a walk and Richie Sexson followed with a single. Fryman broke the tie with a single to right-center, and Einar Diaz followed with a run-scoring groundout.

Oakland 7, Texas 6--Jeremy Giambi had three hits and drove in three runs and the Athletics salvaged the final game of a wild series at Arlington, Texas. The teams combined for 67 runs and 88 hits in the three games.