Rivera Saves the Yankees

Mariano Rivera has survived some of baseball’s most harrowing October moments, staring down the game’s best hitters in the most pressure-packed playoff and World Series situations, but nothing the New York Yankee closer has done in his decorated nine-year career could have prepared him for Tuesday.

Rivera spent the morning in his native Panama, attending the funerals of two of his wife’s cousins who were killed in a freak electrical accident in the pool at Rivera’s home Saturday.

He spent the afternoon in a private jet, fighting back tears during a five-hour flight to New York, his thoughts with his family and for his wife’s lost relatives, 35-year-old Victor Avila and Avila’s son, 14-year-old Victor Dario Avila, whom Rivera considered a son.

And Tuesday night, the steely Rivera was back at work, doing what he does best, nailing down the final four outs to save a wild 10-7 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the American League championship series before a rollicking crowd of 56,135 in Yankee Stadium.

With the tying run on third base in the top of the eighth, the Yankees having blown all but one run of an 8-0 lead, Yankee starter Mike Mussina’s flirtation with a perfect game a distant memory and Red Sox starter Curt Schilling’s shoddy, injury-plagued start ancient history, Rivera got Kevin Millar to pop to shortstop to end the inning.

Bernie Williams knocked in two insurance runs for the Yankees with a clutch two-out double in the bottom of the eighth to make it 10-7, but when Rivera gave up one-out singles to Jason Varitek and Orlando Cabrera in the ninth, the tying run came to the plate in the form of Bill Mueller, whose dramatic two-run homer in the ninth inning off Rivera on July 24 gave the Red Sox an 11-10 win over the Yankees.

Rivera, who began the game with an 0.71 career postseason earned-run average, then reaffirmed his status as baseball’s best October closer by getting Mueller to bounce into a 1-6-3 double play, the hugs and high-fives from Rivera’s teammates and Manager Joe Torre providing a joyous ending to a bittersweet day.

“The most difficult part was leaving my family, knowing that they are still in pain,” Rivera said. “It was tough, you know, coming on that plane alone. There’s tears coming out of my eyes ... it was tough. It wasn’t easy. But knowing the family was praying for me, that kept me going.”

The Red Sox had scored five times in the seventh, turning what looked like a Yankee rout into an 8-5 game, and they rallied in the eighth off setup man Tom Gordon when Mueller reached on an infield single and Manny Ramirez flared a two-out single to left.

Though Rivera was warm, Torre stuck with Gordon to face cleanup batter David Ortiz.

Gordon hung a 3-and-1 breaking ball, and Ortiz crushed it to deep left-center. Hideki Matsui, who tied an ALCS record with five runs batted in, over-ran the play and tried to reach back at the wall to make the catch, but the ball bounced off his glove as Ortiz pulled up for a two-run triple that made it 8-7.

Torre then made that slow walk to the mound, pointing his right arm to the bullpen like he has so many October nights over the last decade, and in came Rivera, who arrived at the park in the top of the third inning, around 9 p.m. EDT, and joined his fellow relievers in the bullpen to a standing ovation in the bottom of the fifth.

Four outs later, Rivera had his 31st postseason save, and the Yankees the first win in the best-of-seven series.

“Believe me, I wanted to stay home and stay with my family, but I have a job to do and I have 24 players that were waiting for me and a manager that is happy for me to be here,” Rivera said. “I came here and my friends, my teammates, the fans, treated me like a king. That was special, and I appreciate that.”

There was some question how Rivera would respond to the mental and physical stress of the day’s events, but Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter never had a doubt.

“It took a lot for him to go out there,” Jeter said, “but he’s probably the most mentally tough person I’ve ever played with.”

Rivera’s relief effort saved the victory for Mussina, who stoked memories of Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series when he retired the first 19 batters Tuesday night, eight by strikeout.

With one out in the seventh and the Yankees ahead, 8-0, Mussina threw an 0-and-2 fastball to Mark Bellhorn, who ripped it off the base of the left-center field wall for a double, breaking up the perfect game.

Ramirez grounded out for the second out, but Ortiz singled to right, and Millar lined a two-run double to left-center to make it 8-2. Trot Nixon singled to center for another run, and Torre pulled Mussina in favor of right-hander Tanyon Sturtze.

The Yankee right-hander grooved an 0-and-2 pitch to Varitek, who drove it deep into the right-field seats for a two-run homer, trimming the lead to 8-5 and ending a drought in which the Red Sox catcher was 0 for 36 in Yankee Stadium this season. By the eighth, the Red Sox were within one run.

“It took, what, 20 minutes to go from a perfect game to an 8-7 game?” Jeter said. “Nothing surprises me when these teams play. There’s no shortage of drama. They can score a lot of runs, just like we can.”

No one figured the Yankees would score so many runs off of Schilling, though. The veteran right-hander with the 6-1 postseason record and 1.74 ERA was supposed to be the ace that would finally propel the Red Sox past the Yankees.

But before he recorded his seventh out Tuesday, Schilling gave up more runs (five) than he did in the entire 2001 World Series (four), when he threw 21 1/3 innings in three starts for Arizona against New York.

Matsui’s run-scoring double keyed a two-run first, and his three-run double highlighted a four-run third. Matsui also followed Kenny Lofton’s solo homer in the sixth with a run-scoring single, as the Yankees scored two huge insurance runs.

Schilling lasted three innings, was charged with six runs and six hits, and said his injured right ankle hindered his ability to push off the rubber and command his fastball. If the ankle doesn’t improve, Schilling said he “won’t take the ball again” in this series.

A sobering thought for Red Sox Nation.

Almost as sobering as the sight of Mariano Rivera in the late innings with a lead.

“I don’t think I trust anybody more than I trust Mariano,” Torre said. “He’s special. No question.”