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I've finally watched Mariano Rivera pitching in the ninth inning! His 503rd save, which was against the Blue Jays, was so breathtaking. And I am saying that literally.

Everyone was anticipating for the 3 up, 3 down. Maybe they were even expecting a strikeout sweep.

The first batter on plate, Alex Rios, was struck out with 1-3. Just one ball for Rivera, a 91mph cutter. The rest were 92 mph.

Next in line was DH David Dellucci who hit a fly ball to centre fielder Brett Gardner. It was a 90 mph cutter. Dellucci bats left, but as expected, he had to switch into a right hitter to avoid breaking his bat, or being hurt, by Mariano Rivera's cutter.

All switch hitters bat right against right-handed Mariano. When it's Mariano Rivera, you must keep right.

The last to bat was the Blue Jays' catcher, Raul Chavez. I wonder how should I describe this moment. First pitch was a strike, and so was the second. Just one more and it's the final out. Would've also been an awesome record of three consecutive strikes in a single at bat.

But the next pitch by Mariano was a ball followed by another ball. 2-and-2 for both players.

The next pitch spoiled everyone as it resulted to a foul ball. But the wait was finally over when the next and last pitch, the only 4-seam fast ball Mariano released, made umpire John Hirschbeck call a swinging strike to Chavez.

It was the final out and the first win of the New York Yankees, 4-2, against the Toronto Blue Jays for the series.



Note: Those in bold lead to another website, for a Mariano Rivera reference.

 

Music:
Bon Jovi - Keep the Faith

I woke up early this morning a little past 2 o'clock. Quite early, but still late for the Nationals vs. Yankees game. But when I checked the Yankees.com, I found out that the game was delayed because of rain. I then decided to go back to sleep.

When I woke up, one of the first things that came into mind was Baseball, which is not unexpected. I was trying to remember my recent dream, trying to recall any traces of Baseball. Since Friday last week, I've always had Baseball in my dreams. 7 straight nights. Yes, I dreamed about Baseball before I woke up at 2AM.

Lying in my bed, wondering when will be next Yanks vs. Nats game, my brain reminded me in the elements of my dream (when I woke up the second time). It was like drifting into a quick sleep just to have the meaning of my dream. Surely, there was Baseball included, again. It was subtle though, very subtle, because one must get the meanings first before figuring out that there's Baseball in my dream.

To make it simple, there were Gardner and Teixeira "mentioned" in my dream again. Yes, they always appear or are mentioned in my dreams.

So why am I making a "dream history" in this blog entry? I could only think of one excuse, and that is what happened to Brett Gardner during the 8th inning of the last series. It's when I woke up. I just wasn't able to see what happened because there was no live coverage of the game available for the Philippines.

Brett Gardner was injured during the 8th inning after colliding with the outfield wall while chasing down a deep fly ball. I only found this out after the game. And by the way, the NY Yankees lost again to the Washington Nationals. The game ended with 3-0 figures in the scoreboard. If my memory is right, the Nats have 8 hits while the Yanks have 7.

When I found out what happened to Gardner, I wondered if it brought an unconscious effect to the pinstripes' who were in the line up. Melky Cabrera replaced Gardner as the center fielder and will most likely take the position during their series match with the Florida Marlins beginning tomorrow.

I hope Brett Gardner is doing fine now. May there be no any major injury. And may the NY Yankees do their best during their game series with the Florida Marlins.

Music:
Paramore - Fences