TORONTO - Mariano Rivera earned his 601st career save in typical one-two-three form Saturday, sealing the Yankees’ 91st win of the season and tying Trevor Hoffman’s big-league record.
With his next save, Rivera will take sole possession of that record and will hold it for a long time. The No. 2 man among active pitchers (Francisco Cordero) is 278 saves behind him and Rivera has given no indication he’s slowing down.
“If you’re a fan of the game, you appreciate how good he is, how consistent,” Jays manager John Farrell said. “He’s the standard by which all are compared. Everybody talks about how you have to fight the clock, fight father time, but he’s certainly defying it.”
ACCORDING TO WEBSTERS
For the first time in club history, there were two no-shows Saturday when the R. Howard Webster awards were presented. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud, the MVP at double-A New Hampshire (.311, 21 homers, 78 RBIs, .914 OPS) and outfielder Jake Marisnick (.320, 14, 77, .888, 37 steals at class-A Lansing) were both busy in their respective playoffs. Marisnick is the 24th player in Jays history to win two or more Webster awards.
Other winners: First baseman David Cooper (.364, nine, 96, .974) at triple-A Las Vegas, catcher A.J. Jimenez (.303, four, 52, .770) at class-A Dunedin; lefty Justin Nicolino (6-2, 1.33) at class-A Vancouver, outfielder Chris Hawkins (.313, five, 52, .853) at Bluefield, shortstop Jorge Vega-Rosado (.317, four, 30, .850) in the Gulf Coast and lefty Jairo Labourt (0-4, 2.23) in the Dominican Summer League.
MORE AWARDS
Bluefield manager Dennis Holmberg, who has spent all but one of his 35 seasons in pro ball in Jays system, earned the Bobby Mattick award for excellence in player development. John Hendricks won the Al Lamacchia award, given to the top amateur scout. Tom Clark, involved in the selection of Ricky Romero and Travis Snider, was named the top pro scout. New Hampshire’s Anthony Gose earned the community service award.
