Torii Hunter: Mariano Rivera has Mo than enough left

It's about that time again.

You know, the annual late-summer rough patch during which Mariano Rivera reminds us all that he is not infallible.

It usually results in a few hard-hit balls, a couple of blown saves and a barrage of sports talk radio questions about where Father Time stands in the pursuit of the closer, now 43.

Torii Hunter finds it all laughable. No, really, he cracked up.

"Didn't Satchel Paige pitch until he was 70?" the Tigers rightfielder joked Saturday. "I bet Mariano could do that. He's definitely still got it, and he probably still will 10 years from now."

Of course, Rivera doesn't intend to. He has insisted that this is his final season. But he has stumbled a few times during this season-long victory lap. After converting 35 of his first 37 opportunities, he blew saves in back-to-back games this week, including Friday night, courtesy of Miguel Cabrera.

"You have to understand," Hunter said, "he blew that save against the best hitter on the planet. And he nearly broke the dude's leg twice!"

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Cabrera fouled consecutive pitches off his left leg against Rivera -- he had a noticeable limp and wore a thick bandage on his shin Saturday morning -- but came back in the at-bat to hit a tying two-run homer to center.

Cabrera entered that at-bat 0-for-4 against Rivera, but the last pitch to him, manager Joe Girardi said, "wasn't exactly where he wanted it."

Rivera also allowed a tying hit on an 0-and-2 pitch to Adam Dunn Wednesday night in a game the Yankees went on to lose to the White Sox in extra innings. In each case, he was one strike away from the save. It was the first time he had blown saves in consecutive appearances since April 19 and 24, 2011.

Nothing out of the ordinary, Girardi said. "He's had times where he's had one tough week, then he rolls for like three months again," he said. "It's just part of what he does. At times people are gonna get you, but most times he gets them."

Rivera has pitched to a 2.08 ERA, which is about par for him. He has averaged 3.8 blown saves per year since 2003, excluding an injury-shortened 2012 season. Before Wednesday, he had gone a month between blown saves.

Also, nothing out of the ordinary.

Hunter, who is 3-for-14 lifetime against Rivera, even disputed the closer's reputation as a one-pitch dynamo. He said in the last two seasons, Rivera has thrown him only two cutters and instead has used his two-seamer, which breaks toward a righthanded hitter instead of away.

"And it's nasty; I'd rather see the cutter," Hunter said. "He used to throw it [in the 90s] but just didn't anymore. Now it's back. How do you stop for 15 years, then just bring a pitch back out? Last year he even threw me a sinker."

Even at this stage of his career, Rivera has found new ways to confound hitters.

"He doesn't throw 96, 97 anymore," Hunter said, "but trust me, when you hear that music , guys are like, 'Oh, damn.' Nobody wants to face Mariano."

Nothing out of the ordinary.