I winced as I watched the July 5 game against the Red Sox where Rivera had a 2-0 game become a 2-1 game with two HBP and a run scored on two hits. Luckily Rivera got two strikeouts sandwiched between a fly out to preserve the win and earn his 23rd save of the year.
Later that night my brother texted me saying that Rivera always seems to blow up against the Red Sox. I at first agreed. It seems like every time Rivera pitches against the Red Sox, he implodes. I pitched a guest blog idea to Joseph P at River Ave. Blues about this very topic. Then I got to work crunching the numbers on Rivera vs. the Red Sox since 2004.
The Yankees and Red Sox have played each other 91 times (including this season and the 2004 playoff series) since the beginning of 2004. The Yankees have the very slim lead with 46 victories in head to head matchups. Of these 91 games, Rivera has made an appearance in 44 of these games (48%). He has combined for a 3-4 W-L record along with 21 saves against the Red Sox over the last 5 years.
After looking at the numbers, my brother was partially correct. Rivera has allowed some come from behind victories or allowed the Red Sox to score runs, further widening the margin the Yankees needed to score to win or tie a game.
However, Rivera has been the dominant closer against the Red Sox that he is against the rest of the league. His 21 saves over the last five years against the Yankees’ biggest rivals speaks volumes. He has pitched 48.1 innings (including this season) against the Sox in this span, allowing 44 hits, 22 runs scored, (18 ER) and 18 walks while registering 41 strikeouts. He has also allowed 3 home runs against him.
It’s human nature to remember the negative and forget the positive. That’s what may be happening here. I remember the bad games Rivera pitched and forget the good ones. July 24, 2004 is one good example. Rivera pitched .2 of an inning, allowed a 3-run home run to Bill Mueller for the loss. Later that season in the ALCS, baseball pundits will be quick to state that Rivera coughed up game 4 (and later in game 5), allowing Mueller to hit the game tying single. In game 5 of the ALCS, Rivera allowed Varitek to hit a sac fly to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th.
Another memorable bad game was to allow Jason Varitek to hit a game-tying home run on April 5, 2005. Luckily Jeter hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to give Rivera the win. There have been games where the Yankees were leading by a couple of runs and the Sox were able to get on board against Rivera. One example was July 17 of 2005 where Rivera allowed a Varitek (again) RBI single to cut the Yankees lead to two runs. On September 11, 2005, Rivera was pitching in a 1-0 game where he walked David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. He was able to register the final three outs to preserve his 37th save of that year.
Rivera wasn’t so dominant either on August 20 of 2006 when he earned an extra inning win over the Sox. In a game where he allowed two hits and two walks, he escaped thanks to home runs by Giambi and Posada to give the Yankees a 8-5 victory.
The biggest flop, in my opinion happened last year on April 20. The Yankees were leading 6-3, which looked like a sure victory. Rivera entered the game and pitched only .2 of a inning, giving up a RBI single, a 2-RBI triple, and another RBI single to give the lead and the game to the Red Sox, 7-6.
For all of his miscues against the Red Sox, and of all the bad outings we remember the most, Rivera remains to be the most consistent closer (take that, Papelbon) in the game today. His numbers this season speak for itself, and so do his numbers against the Red Sox over the last five years.
So, as the Yankees and Red Sox prepare for a showdown this coming weekend, we would be best reminded that no matter what happens, you can count on Rivera.
