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Mariano Rivera stood on the mound, looking down at his cleats. Somehow, he had let yet another lead slip away.
Never before had baseball's all-time saves leader blown three straight chances.
Silenced by a pair of Detroit home runs, the fans at Yankee Stadium soon perked up. Brett Gardner homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the New York Yankees over the Tigers 5-4 for their first series win in more than a month.

Rivera, 43, has a record 643 saves, but had never failed three in a row in 1,087 previous relief appearances. His troubles began in Chicago, where he gave back a lead to the White Sox.
"At least it's the first time, you know what I mean," Rivera said. "I just try to go out there and do my job. The last three opportunities, I haven't done it. So we have to continue battling and get better. Have to keep working and eventually it will happen."
Rivera blew both saves in this series but Gardner got both wining hits.
"Mo has bailed us out a few times," Gardner said. "It didn't matter if it was me or somebody else, we just needed to get a win."
Rivera (3-2) gave up another homer to a limping Miguel Cabrera, plus a drive to Victor Martinez in the top of the ninth. The solo shots made it 4-4.
But Gardner connected off Jose Veras (0-5). The centrefielder flipped his batting helmet to A-Rod just before reaching the plate, then jumped into a cluster of teammates at home.
"To Martinez, that ball was just laying right flat up. And also with Miguel," Rivera said. "You're facing professional hitters. If you don't put the ball where you need to, you're going to get hit."
On Friday night, Rivera gave up a two-run shot to Cabrera, who fouled two off his leg before the tying drive. Gardner won it in the 10th with a single.
Manager Joe Girardi is hardly going to start worrying now about the pitcher generally regarded as the best closer the game has seen.
"It's not like you forget how to pitch in a week," Girardi said. "It's impossible."


Gardner saves Yankees as Rivera stalls

Mariano Rivera

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Mariano Rivera blows third successive save 


Mariano Rivera stood on the mound, looking down at his cleats. Somehow, he had let yet another lead slip away. Never before had baseball's all-time saves leader blown three straight chances.
