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Yanks Score 11th Straight Home Opener With WIN! 

Chien-Ming Wang hurled seven solid innings, and Melky Cabrera homered as New York edged Toronto, 3-2, in the 84th and final home opener at the current Yankee Stadium.

“The House That Ruth Built,” which opened in 1923 and was renovated from 1974-75, will be replaced by a $1.3 billion state-of-the-art ballpark, which will also be called Yankee Stadium, in 2009.

The game also featured the debut of new Yankees manager Joe Girardi, marking the first time that the Bronx Bombers took the field without Joe Torre at the helm since 1995.

After four World Series titles and 12 straight years of reaching the playoffs, the Yankees decided to offer Torre an incentive-laden contract, which he quickly turned down. So, the Yankees handed the managerial reins over to one of Torre’s former bench coaches, Girardi, who earned Manager of the Year honors in his one year as skipper of the Florida Marlins in 2006.

Wang (1-0) allowed just six hits and two runs for the Yankees, who have won 11 straight home-openers, a big league record. Alex Rodriguez finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored the game-winning run, while Bobby Abreu was 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Star closer Mariano Rivera capped Girardi’s first win in the Bronx with a perfect ninth to earn the save. Rivera then gave his new manager the ball after recording the third out.

“It was an outstanding game,” Girardi said. “Melky played great and so did Jason (Giambi). This means a lot.”

Shannon Stewart and Marco Scutaro drove in a run apiece for the Blue Jays, who are coming off an 83-79 season. Toronto ace Roy Halladay (0-1) pitched well, surrendering three runs on seven hits in seven innings en route to the hard- luck loss.

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Rivera will accept Yankees’ $45M offer

NEW YORK?Mariano Rivera is keeping his pinstripes, staying with the only major league team he’s ever pitched for. The closer, perhaps the biggest key to the New York Yankees’ run of World Series titles in the late 1990s, told the team he is accepting their $45 million, three-year offer.

Rivera, who turns 38 on Nov. 29, gets an average salary more than $4 million above what any other reliever currently makes.

Rivera’s agreement is pending a physical. The Yankees also have a preliminary agreement on a $52.4 million, four-year contract with catcher Jorge Posada and are trying to finish off a record-setting $275 million, 10-year deal with Alex Rodriguez, who won his third AL MVP award Monday.

“We’ve got everybody back,” Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said. “It’s good to have both Jorgie and him back.”

Rivera was coming off a three-year contract that paid him $31.5 million. He had hoped for an extension before the start of this season, but the Yankees decided not to discuss contract extensions with any of their players until after the 2007 season was over.

At the start of spring training, Rivera said he would test the market if he became a free agent.

“Everybody has the same shot,” he said then. “The Yankees will not have an advantage.”

But the Yankees spoke loudly with their aggressive offer.

“Mariano is obviously someone that we can’t live without because he’s one of a kind and he’s so unique in what he does for us,” Rodriguez said during a conference call after he won the AL MVP award for the third time. “He’s such an unbelievable force in our clubhouse. In many ways he’s kind of the voice for a lot of people in there.”

Next, New York hopes Andy Pettitte will decide to pitch for the Yankees in 2008. Pettitte turned down a $16 million player option, saying he needed more time to decide whether he wanted to play or retire.

“If we get Andy, there’s no question that we’ll have better pitching than last year. We may have better pitching, anyway, but certainly with Andy back we will,” Steinbrenner said. “And of course, we’ve got the same lineup, which was a killer lineup. Everybody knows that.”

New York has not yet announced its agreement with Posada or a $4 million, two-year contract with backup catcher Jose Molina.

“We’ll keep doing whatever we’re going to do to improve,” Steinbrenner said. “The offseason isn’t over yet.”

New York remains interested in Johan Santana. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner is eligible for free agency after the 2008 season, and teams expect the Minnesota Twins to make him available if they can’t work out an extension.

By retaining Rivera, the Yankees can proceed with their plan to have Joba Chamberlain in the starting rotation. Chamberlain was Rivera’s primary setup man late in the season.

Rivera had been in the Dominican Republic last week while the Yankees waited for word on whether he would accept.

“I was certainly hopeful,” Steinbrenner said. “It’s a good offer and an offer that was made because I wanted him back.”

Source: BOSTON.COM

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