Twins slam Rivera for rare win in the Bronx

In the last eight years, the Yankees have beaten the Twins every conceivable way in the Bronx.

But the Twins finally broke through Sunday, doing so in most improbable fashion.

Mariano Rivera, called on with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth and the Yankees ahead by two runs, walked Jim Thome to force home a run.

Jason Kubel then lined Rivera's 1-and-0 delivery into the seats in right for a grand slam, sending the Yankees to a 6-3 loss in front of 46,628 stunned fans at the Stadium.

"I didn't do my job," Rivera said.

That he didn't shocked the crowd, his teammates and the Twins, who hadn't won a game in the Bronx since 2007 and entered yesterday's game at 3-25 here since 2002.

"You should probably have recorded that because it's probably not something that you will often see," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of the blown save by Rivera, who allowed all three of Joba Chamberlain's runners to score plus two of his own. "As far as I'm concerned, he's the best in the game."

Mark Teixeira said "we get spoiled" when it comes to Rivera, who had converted his last 51 save opportunities at home since Aug. 13, 2007, and came in having allowed no runs and three hits in 11 innings this season. He's allowed four grand slams in his career, two as a reliever, including one by the Indians' Bill Selby on July 14, 2002.

"You just assume, you assume he's going to close every single game," said Teixeira, who had two hits but struck out looking with two runners on base to end the game. "If you ask people in New York, they probably think his save percentage is 1.000 because that's how good he is. But he's human, just like everyone else."

The "he's human" refrain was a popular one. "There's no question everyone's surprised," Alex Rodriguez said. "But that's why we're human beings."

The Yankees (24-13) were four outs from a sweep and their 13th straight victory over the Twins (23-14), leading 3-1 thanks to a two-out, two-run triple by Randy Winn in the second and an RBI single by Teixeira in the fifth.

Yankees long man Sergio Mitre started and was outstanding, allowing one run, four hits (including Justin Morneau's ninth homer) and a walk in five innings-plus. David Robertson added two scoreless innings.

Chamberlain (1-2) started the eighth and allowed a leadoff single to Denard Span. Orlando Hudson forced him at second and Joe Mauer walked, but Chamberlain struck out Morneau for the second out.

When Michael Cuddyer's line drive smashed off Teixeira's glove at first and skittered away, the Twins had the bases loaded. "I jumped and extended my hand; it just didn't find my glove," Teixeira said. "I would have loved to make that play for Joba."

The dangerous Thome, who has nine grand slams among his 569 career homers, entered the at-bat at 3-for-14 with six walks against Rivera. After falling into a 3-and-0 hole, Rivera walked him on a 3-and-2 pitch to make it 3-2.

That, much more than the Kubel homer, incensed Rivera. "You have control of that," he said. "Home run, anything can happen. But walking in a run, it's unacceptable. You can't go in there and do that."

Rivera has 69 four-out saves in his career, including seven last year. Girardi said he went into the game feeling that he was short in the bullpen and thinking he might need Rivera for more than an inning for the first time this season.

Even after walking Thome, Rivera still had a 3-2 lead. He'd get out of it because he almost always does. Just not this time.

"He's human," Girardi said. "He showed that he's human today."