Joking aside, Yankees' Rivera is ready to pitch

ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- Just a day after his longest outing of the season, Mariano Rivera, the New York Yankees' nonpareil closer, said, "I'm beat up right now."

Rivera let that hang there for a split-second, just long enough to leave everybody wondering about the prospect of a ninth-inning Yankees' lead in somebody else's hands.

Turned out, he was joking. Rivera, at 39, is still dominant, and still resilient. He's ready to go for Game 3, no problems. In Game 2 of the American League Championship Series -- what ended as a 13-inning, 4-3 New York victory -- Rivera went 2 1/3 innings, throwing 25 pitches. During 70 previous appearances this year (counting regular season and postseason), Rivera had only once thrown more than 1 1/3 innings. And never had he topped two.

Rivera credited Manager Joe Girardi for keeping his workload relatively light, and now, he's realizing the payoff.

"Well I think Joe did a tremendous job during the regular season, especially with me," Rivera said. "He kept me in a good role when I didn't pitch more than an inning-plus. So that kept me fresh for the whole regular year coming into the playoffs."

Short rest for Sabathia

Girardi confirmed that CC Sabathia will start Game 4 for the Yankees, a decision that will require the left-handed ace to pitch on short rest. If all goes to plan, Sabathia also will be in line to start a potential Game 7.

"He feels great. We're comfortable with him going on short rest," Girardi said. "He's had success going on short rest. He feels good, and we're going right to CC."

Angels fight a slump

Los Angeles Angels Manager Mike Scioscia, after witnessing his team's first two games of this ALCS, said, "We're not getting it done in the batter's box right now," and that's fair criticism unless "it" means hitting .154, altogether wilting with runners on base, and scoring only enough runs to lose twice.

So far, the Angels have been sloppy in several areas. They blew a save in Game 2. They've committed a combined five errors. But their lineup deserves much of the blame for their 2-0 deficit against the Yankees.

Scioscia noted that the Angels have left 21 men on base through two games. "That's eventually what hurt us," the manager said.

Rodriguez keeps it simple

This postseason, Alex Rodriguez has tied a game in the ninth inning with a homer, tied a game in the seventh inning with a homer, and tied a game in the 11th with a homer. Just 10 days ago, Rodriguez was known for his October struggles. Now, he's the player nobody wants to face with the game on the line.

All the while, Rodriguez has refused the probes of armchair psychologists -- questioners who want his thoughts on why this October is different from the other ones. Rodriguez wants nothing to do with introspection.

"I'm doing exactly what I did all year," he said. "Trying to simplify things and not do too much."

Too early to say

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said he it was too early to make any definitive decision about whether Hiroki Kuroda might pitch again in the series, following Kuroda's 1 1/3 -inning, six-run dud in Game 3 of the NLCS on Sunday night, but he said Kuroda was not bothered by the neck injury that kept him out of the Division Series.

"Health-wise, I think he's good," Torre said of Kuroda, who hadn't pitched since Sept. 28 because of a herniated disc in his neck. "If he's not, we'll [announce it on Monday]. But he didn't seem to have any issue. No excuses, put it that way."

Rare blowout

The Dodgers' 11-run loss in Game 3 was their worst in a postseason game since Game 1 of the 1959 World Series, when the Chicago White Sox beat them by the same 11-0 score.

Belliard in No. 2 hole

Two months ago, Ronnie Belliard was bouncing around the lower half of the Washington Nationals' lineup as they headed toward a 100-loss season. On Sunday night, he was batting second for the Dodgers in the NLCS, after Torre moved him up from the seventh spot, where Belliard had been all postseason, against Phillies Game 3 starter Cliff Lee.

"Normally we put [Andre] Ethier [third] against left-handers, but I just wanted to leave him in the three-hole, so we had to find somebody for the two-hole," Torre said. "We decided on Belliard."

Belliard hit second on six times all season, including four times for the Nationals before being traded to the Dodgers, but has most hit sixth or seventh.

Ng interviews with Padres

Kim Ng interviewed for the San Diego Padres' vacant general manager's job on Saturday, giving her another chance to become the first female GM in major league history.

Ng, the Los Angeles Dodgers' assistant general manager, interviewed with Padres chief executive and vice chairman Jeff Moorad, according to a person familiar with the process.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.