Luke Weaver Joins Mariano Rivera in New York Yankees' Playoff History Books

The New York Yankees escaped with a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday, thanks in part to Luke Weaver's perfect four-out save.

Oct 5, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Luke Weaver (30) reacts after recording a strikeout during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals during game one of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees enjoyed a successful 2024 regular season, winning the AL East and earning the top seed in the American League. One of the few question marks on their resume, though, was the back end of their bullpen.

Closer Clay Holmes, who was named an All-Star for the second time in July, finished the year with 13 blown saves. Nobody else in the league had more than nine.

Holmes' struggles even put the Yankees' World Series hopes at risk, considering no eventual champion has ever had a player blow double-digit saves in the regular season.

Finally, Holmes got demoted, and Luke Weaver started stepping in as New York's closer down the stretch. After tossing 11.0 scoreless innings with 24 strikeouts across his final eight outing of September, Weaver was given a taste of October action on Saturday.

The Yankees and Kansas City Royals were locked in a back-and-forth affair, exchanging the lead a record-breaking five times in Game 1 of the ALDS. Holmes had actually held down the fort in the sixth and seventh innings, and New York led 6-5 when Weaver took the mound with two down in the top of the eighth.

Weaver struck out Maikel Garcia swinging to get out of the frame, then he came back and retired the side in the ninth. His clutch pitching put the Yankees up 1-0 in the best-of-five series, earning the save in his first career playoff appearance.

As noted by Sports Reference's Katie Sharp, Weaver became just the second pitcher in Yankees history to record a save of at least four outs in the postseason without allowing a single baserunner in a one-run postseason win.

Mariano Rivera was previously the only reliever in franchise history to achieve the feat, doing so four times. He established the club in Game 2 of the 2001 ALCS, then matched his feat in Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS and Game 4 of the 2005 ALDS.

Yankee pitchers with a 4+ out save and 0 baserunners allowed in a 1-run postseason win:

Luke Weaver (2024 ALDS Gm 1)
Mariano Rivera (4 times)

— Katie Sharp (@SharpStats17) October 6, 2024

Weaver, 31, has bounced around between six teams over the last nine seasons. Before he became a workhorse for the Yankees this year, he owned a 5.14 ERA, 1.438 WHIP and 0.7 WAR through 144 career outings.

Then, in 2024, Weaver went 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA, 0.929 WHIP and 1.9 WAR in 62 games.

Of course, that production doesn't come close to what Rivera provided in even his more middling seasons, but it was surely a welcome sight for Yankees fans. And seeing Weaver translate that regular season success into a historic postseason win is certainly worthy of praise.

Game 2 of the ALDS is scheduled to get underway at 7:38 p.m. ET on Monday.

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