The championship belt with the blue interlocking “NY” rested on the chair in front of Stephen Tarpley’s locker in the hours before Saturday’s game against the Rockies.
The Yankee lefty was awarded the belt by teammates for three one-hit innings of relief Friday night. He earned a save for the silliest of reasons in an 8-2 game — because he worked at least three innings, finished and did not blow the lead. But the real save was of the rest of the bullpen.
Bench coach Josh Bard, filling in Friday for the suspended Aaron Boone, had mentioned that to win, the Yankees were prepared to use their four main relievers — Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman.