Rivera has converted his last 28 opportunities against the Royals dating to a blown save on Aug. 18, 1998, at Kauffman Stadium.

WSJ: Shields' solid again as Royals lose to Yankees 3-2

David Wright tied the game with a two-out single in the ninth off League, handed his first blown save in a Dodgers uniform.

WSJ: Dodgers blow lead in 9th, lose to Mets 7-3 in 10

David Robertson followed Sabathia, and Mariano Rivera rebounded from Tuesday's blown save at the Mets to pitch a two-hit ninth for his 19th save in 20 chances.

WSJ: Yanks beat Boston 4-1 as Teixeira, Youkilis return

But all three batters to face Rivera (0-1) got hits, handing him the first blown save of his farewell season after he had converted 18 straight chances.

WSJ: Mets rally to beat Rivera and Yankees, 2-1

His only other blown save against them happened in 1996.

WSJ: Royals lose 4-2 to Yankees, 6th defeat in 7 games

New York trailed 4-3 in the ninth before Travis Hafner homered with one out on a 3-1 pitch from Jim Johnson, who has blown three straight save opportunities after converting a franchise-record 35 in a row.

WSJ: Yankees hit 4 HRs, beat Orioles 6-4 in 10 innings

He had blown his two previous save chances.

NPR: Bruce Homers To Back Cueto In Reds' Win Over Mets

Mike Ellicock was blown up on a special forces operation to save UK hostages in Sierra Leone, only surviving because he was wearing body armour.

BBC: London Marathon: Ex-paratrooper beats backpack record

Such arrangements look less efficient than full-blown mergers: were it one company, the Star Alliance could save a lot in managerial overheads.

ECONOMIST: Mergers and alliances