Yankees closer Mariano Rivera cleared over spitball flap

For at least a few hours on Tuesday, before Major League Baseball cleared him of any wrongdoing, Mariano Rivera found himself at the center of a modern controversy, pinned down by accusations on a fan blog and the accompanying evidence of a YouTube video. The video showed Rivera, on the mound in the 10th inning of Game 2, spitting in the general direction of his right hand, which happened to hold a baseball. The accusation, posted originally on http://Halosheaven.com: That Rivera, the Yankees' peerless closer, had thrown a spitball.

After reviewing all available still photographs and video evidence, the commissioner's office on Tuesday found no evidence of a spitball. Baseball, too, considered the context of the accusations. Never before has Rivera been accused of doctoring a baseball. Plus, Rivera launched his loogie in clear view, with no attempt at deception; no true cheater would plot his move in plain sight.

"To me it's a dead story," Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said. "I caught Mo for four years, and I know for sure he never did anything."

Rivera entered Monday's Game 2 against the Angels with no outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the 10th. After botching a bunt play, Rivera eventually worked out of a first-and-third, no-outs jam. The alleged spitting incident occurred just after he'd warmed up, before he faced Erick Aybar.

Rivera's career has relied, famously, on one pitch -- a devious cut fastball, which he throws roughly 93 percent of the time.

"I kind of laughed," Girardi said. "Mo's been throwing one pitch for a long time. I happen to catch him. He was accused of throwing a spitter. The one thing about a spitter is it consistently does not go one way like Mo's ball consistently goes one way. So I kind of laughed about it."

Torre picks Padilla

As expected, the Los Angeles Dodgers have chosen to go with veteran right-hander Vicente Padilla as their starter for Game 5 of the NLCS on Wednesday night, choosing his experience over the vast potential, but unpredictability, of 22-year-old left-hander Clayton Kershaw.

Manager Joe Torre said he chose Padilla "because of his experience, because of how he pitched against St. Louis [in the Division Series], because of how he pitched against [the Phillies] earlier."

Also, Kershaw has pitched significantly better at home than on the road, and he would be in line to start Game 6 at Dodger Stadium, if the Dodgers can push the series that far, on Friday.

For Game 5, Torre said, it will be "all hands on deck" in his bullpen -- with starters Hiroki Kuroda, Chad Billingsley and even Kershaw available to pitch.

Collusion deadline moved

Players and owners have agreed to push back the deadline for a collusion grievance over last winter's free agents until the end of this offseason.

Agents for players have been asking the union for several months to file a grievance.

The deal, agreed to last week, allows both sides to view how this offseason's free agent market develops.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.