Yankees Not Worried About Mariano Rivera

Even with his August ERA of 7.71 and recent stretch of struggles, Mariano Rivera is not causing the New York Yankees to question their closer.

At least not publically.

Manager Joe Girardi and GM Brian Cashman both offered words of encouragement for Rivera to members of the press who wondered if the pair had any concern involving the aging finisher.

"“(Mariano’s) had a couple days in a row where he’s given up runs. I remember in 2009 he kind of got off to that slow start and people were saying is this the beginning of the end?” Girardi said. “And let’s not forget, I think he threw two innings in Game 6 against the Phillies. He might have given us five outs against the Angles.”"

In his latest appearance, Rivera picked up his 30^th save by logging two-thirds of an inning against the Angels.  Even so, the 41 year old surrendered a home run, his second in his last two appearances.

Over his prior three games pitched, Rivera has given up 4 earned runs in only 2.2 innings of work, causing his ERA to climb from 1.70 to 2.40.

Still, Girardi finds solace in the fact that Rivera has retained his control through this process.  The Yankees’ skipper believes that as long as Rivera holds his command, these struggles will prove just a small blip on screen of another successful season.

"“I think if he got in a lot of three-ball counts. If he started walking people and really getting behind people, and not [having] the ability to throw strikes, I would say something is really off,” Girardi said. “But we’re not seeing that. We’re seeing him throw strikes; we’re seeing him miss a little bit, and guys are hitting him.”"

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