Yankees shut down RHP Rivera for season

Sep 26, 2008 - 3:59 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Two days after the New York Yankees officially were eliminated from the playoffs, Mariano Rivera packed it in until next spring.

Rivera, who had an MRI on a bothersome right shoulder in New York on Thursday, will be shut down for the rest of the season, something Yankees manager Joe Girardi deemed fairly normal for a hurler at the end of a campaign.

"Mo's shoulder or body has been cranky before like every year," Girardi said after his team's 8-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. "We had to shut him down a little bit this year. He had some back spasms in the back of his shoulder. He had some minor discomfort. To me, I'm not concerned."

New York will miss the playoffs for first time since the strike-shortened 1994 campaign, making the decision to shut down the 38-year-old Rivera an easy one. The Yankees (87-72) will close the season with a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox (94-65), who knocked their rivals from contention with a win Tuesday.

It will be an odd October for Rivera, who has pitched in the playoffs in each season since being called up in 1995. In the process, he perhaps has become the best postseason closer of all-time, posting a 17-9 record, minuscule 0.77 ERA and 34 saves as a member of four world championship teams.