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Scutaro beats Rivera in ninth as A's top Yankees

Apr 16, 2007 - 1:48 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Andy Pettitte gave the New York Yankees' injury-plagued rotation a huge lift. But Marco Scutaro made sure Mariano Rivera didn't make it stand up.

Scutaro belted a soaring walk-off homer off Rivera to cap a two-out, ninth-inning rally as the Oakland Athletics posted a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Yankees.

The legendary Yankees closer retired the first two batters before allowing a single to Todd Walker and a walk to Jason Kendall. Scutaro then turned on an 0-2 pitch, nailing the foul pole down the left field line.

"It has to be in my top two," said Scutaro of his ninth walk-off plate hit in four seasons with the Athletics. "Especially right now, against Mariano, and the way I'm feeling at home plate, the last thing I would expect is that I would hit a homer. It was very special."

"I wanted to go down and in, and I left it up and over," Rivera said. "It was a home run pitch. I left it right out over the plate." Rich Harden tossed six scoreless innings before leaving in the seventh with tightness in his right shoulder for the Athletics, who staged their own late-inning rally after losing in a 13-inning marathon on Saturday.

"With two outs and nobody on there, we were just one hit and a blast from tying it up," A's manager Bob Geren said. "With Walker's hit, and Kendall's great at-bat, Scutaro's home run, it just goes to show you that if you fight to the end, good things can happen."

The Yankees have injury problems of their own, having placed starters Carl Pavano (right forearm) and Mike Mussina (left hamstring) on the 15-day disabled list prior to the contest - leaving a rotation already missing ace Chien-Ming Wang in dire straits.

But Pettitte pitched seven solid innings, yielding just two first-inning runs and six hits.

"He was great," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He mixed his pitches really well, and gave us everything we needed. Seven complete innings especially since he's a shade behind with his conditioning, but he gave us a great outing when we needed one."

However, after Scott Proctor pitched a perfect eighth, Rivera (1-1) could not hold the lead in the ninth.

"I lost a game that we should have won," Rivera said. "It's as simple as that. I'm not going to make excuses. It's unacceptable. I can't give up games like that."

"I'm shocked," Torre said. "There's no way that can happen with Mo on the mound. You have to give (Scutaro) credit. He got himself a big day off a great pitcher."

Jay Marshall (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings, yielding just one hit to pick up the victory. Harden allowed five hits and one run, while striking out seven and walking two. After Harden's exit, Joe Kennedy yielded a single to Jason Giambi, an RBI double by Jorge Posada and back-to-back sacrifice flies from Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

One inning later, Rodriguez added a sacrifice fly of his won to give New York an insurance run.

"I felt a little off even before (allowing a double to Rodriguez)," Harden said. "I was just tight, the back of my shoulder. I talked to (Kendall), threw a few pitches, and especially with the way I was throwing, I knew I wasn't going to be effective after that."