Rivera: No Ill Will Towards Papelbon

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Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera says that he has no ill will towards Jonathan Papelbon after the Boston reliever said he deserved to play the role of closer for the American League All-Star team earlier this week, according to The New York Post.

"I had a chance to pitch," Rivera said. "All I wanted was a chance to pitch. I wanted to have a chance to save the game, but I couldn't. I'm OK with that."

Papelbon pitched the eighth inning for the AL while Rivera pitched 1 2/3 innings in an appearance that stretched over the ninth and tenth innings.

"He means well," Rivera added. "And when you have a young guy like that he's a competitor. Definitely, all of us wanted to close the game. Sure, everybody deserved to be a closer in this game, but the manager had the last call. I have no problem with that."

Via The New York Post

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