Girardi Loses it as Streak Ends

The Yankees seven game winning streak came to an end last night, 7-2 to the Blue Jays as Roy Halladay won his 20th game, but all anyone wanted to talk to Joe Girardi about was Mariano Rivera's possible injury.

Earlier in the day it was reported that Rivera, suffering from an "cranky" body, had gone to New York for his standard year end physical. Last night it turned out that Rivera's shoulder was bothering him and he was sent to New York to get it examined and have an MRI done. Even Mrs. MM said there was no way Mo would leave the team early unless he was hurt.

The media pounced on Girardi, who has had a habit all season of stretching the truth concerning the teams injuries, during his post-game press conference. Girardi lashed back, showing some of the attitude that the media in Florida complained about. Peter Abraham has audio of both the pre- and post-game press conferences. Tyler Kepner also discusses Girardi's propensity for lying about injuries.

Apparently the shoulder has been bothering Mo for a while, but he didn't want to say anything until the Yankees were eliminated. Hopefully, the MRI will show no structural damage. George King has more...

On another note, the Carl Pavano era has, thankfully, come to an end. Pavano was knocked out last (surprisingly, not literally). He was knocked out with two away in the fourth after allowing 5 runs. He finishes his 4-year, $39.95 million contract with a 9-8, 5.00 record in 26 starts. Almost half those wins came in the second half of this season.







"The price of 20 wins"