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Mariano Rivera deprived of a save because David Robertson stunk

rivera getty

This pretty much tells you that both reliever wins and the save statistic are, to say the least, flawed: Mariano Rivera came into the ninth inning with a one-run lead, closed the game out and ... didn’t get the save. Why? Because in this case it was a judgment call by the official scorer pursuant to rule 10.17:

(c) The official scorer shall not credit as the winning pitcher a relief pitcher who is ineffective in a brief appearance, when at least one succeeding relief pitcher pitches effectively in helping his team maintain its lead. In such a case, the official scorer shall credit as the winning pitcher the succeeding relief pitcher who was most effective, in the judgment of the official scorer.

David Robertson was the pitcher of record when the Yankees took the lead for the last time and, in most cases, would be credited with the win. But he also gave up three runs on four hits in one evening, and was therefore -- to say the least -- ineffective. Ergo, the official scorer declared Rivera the winner.

Query: could they give Robertson the blown save too? Even if he pitched before Rivera? Because that seems like the most accurate of the three possible pitcher dispositions here.