Carl Pavano signed a 40 million dollar contract with the New York Yankees in late 2004. The signing has been considered a massive failure for the Yankees, as Pavano has spent much of the time on his contract on the disabled list. However, on Saturday night Pavano proved himself to be a capable big league pitcher when healthy. He earned the victory over the Baltimore Orioles, going five innings and allowing just three runs. New York won the game by a score of 5-3.

This game wasn’t won solely on Pavano’s effort on the mound. His Yankee offensive counterparts helped as well. Both Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui went deep, and Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie got jumped for two runs in the first inning. With the loss, Guthrie’s record on the 2008 season fell to an even 10-10.

After leaving in the fifth, the Yankees bullpen was left with the task of coming up with four innings of relief to close out the game. The ‘pen was up to the challenge, as Brian Bruney, Jose Veras, and Mariano Rivera combined for four innings of scoreless, two hit relief. Mo earned his 30th save, while Bruney and Veras earned their 5th and 8th holds of the season.