from the Daily News...

Not only Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera serve up a rare four-run inning in taking the loss, he stepped out of character and publicly disagreed with a key strategic decision by his manager in an ugly 9-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at the Stadium.

After Tampa Bay had taken a 6-5 lead on Joe Dillon's tiebreaking single, Joe Girardi elected to have Rivera intentionally walk pinch hitter Evan Longoria two outs later, and the move blew up in their faces when B.J. Upton extended the lead with a single to center, leading Girardi to remove the closer from the game before Tampa Bay would add two more runs in the inning.

"That's the manager's decision, if it was me I would pitch to him," Rivera said when asked about the decision to walk Longoria. "That's what I do. I'm not going to go there to intentionally walk guys. I think I have good stuff to get people out. But that's the manager's decision. That's why I'm not the manager."

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MLB yankees, mariano rivera, joe girardi