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NEW YORK (AP) - The bullpen gates in left-center field opened, "Enter Sandman" blared over the Yankee Stadium loudspeakers and out came Mariano Rivera to an overwhelming ovation and a crackle of thousands of camera flashes.
With the score tied 3-all and a runner on first in the ninth inning Boston manager Terry Francona did what he suggested he would, he called on the mainstay of the Yankees' bullpen to do what he's done so many times from this mound: help his team wriggle out of one more jam.
While it didn't go quite to the script that many had hoped for - Rivera closing out the final All-Star game at the storied stadium - he did not disappoint, reviving the pregame Yankees celebration with 1 2-3 scoreless innings in the AL's 4-3, 15-inning victory.
After squelching the ninth-inning rally with a strikeout-caught stealing, Rivera worked the 10th and gave up two hits to put runners on first and third. He then got Dan Uggla to ground into an inning-ending double play.
"Definitetly it was good," Rivera said even though he wasn't pitching in a save situation. "This one was top of the line."
Rivera then stood on the top step and leaned on the railing of the AL - Yankees - dugout with Derek Jeter and watched the 11th inning. Alex Rodriguez, along with other starters already out of the game, had left not long after he was removed with one out in the fifth, dressed spiffily in a suit.
Rivera was warmed up by his manager and former catcher Joe Girardi, who also got Rivera's Boston counterpart, Jonathan Paplebon, ready in the Yankees bullpen for his eighth-inning appearance. Paplebon gave up an unearned run to give the NL a 3-2 lead.
Rivera said that he knew he was going to pitch the ninth, even though he couldn't tell the media.
"I knew a few days," he said. "I couldn't tell you that. (Francona) didn't tell me specifically. My manager did."
Earlier in the evening, Rivera was feted along with Jeter and Rodriguez in a pregame that felt like a Yankees celebration.
The "Bleacher Creatures" in right-center field regaled them with the usual chants of their names. Rivera heard "Mar-iano!" as he was introduced with the pitchers.
Then Rivera caught one of four ceremonial first pitches from Yankees Hall-of-Famers, who were given the baseballs by George Steinbrenner, as part of a tribute to the frail 78-year-old team owner.
"It was priceless seeing our boss coming onto the field like that," Rivera said
