Orioles" Once-Flawless Bullpen Opens Door for Yankees Brian Matusz did not wait to watch Raul Ibanez's game-ending home run fly out of Yankee Stadium before he turned around and briskly walked off the mound. Jim Johnson, who set an Orioles record with 51 saves, allowed Raul Ibanez's game-tying home run. "A lot was going through my mind," Matusz said. It was a low moment in a tortuous career for the 25-year-old Matusz, a former fourth overall draft pick who had endured a relentless series of setbacks and disappointments as a starter - including one of the worst pitching seasons of all time in 2011 - to reinvent himself as a reliever. Out of the bullpen, Matusz had been one of Manager Buck Showalter's most reliable pitchers until a high fastball left the yard off Ibanez's bat on Wednesday. The biggest appearance of Matusz's career ended in another heartbreak. "I just left the pitch up," Matusz said. Ibanez obviously has been swinging the bat well, and I just missed my location. He made it hurt. The Orioles came into Wednesday's game with a 76-0 record when leading after seven innings, a remarkable run built on the strength of their bullpen. Their closer, Jim Johnson, set a franchise record with 51 saves this season. But in three postseason games, Johnson has allowed six runs, including the tying run in the ninth inning Wednesday, off a home run by Ibanez that sent Yankee Stadium into its first round of pandemonium. For the second time against the Yankees, Johnson's fastball did not dart with the effectiveness it displayed in the regular season, costing the Orioles a win. On a night when Mariano Rivera threw out the first pitch, Johnson's blown save served as a fitting reminder of how valuable a postseason performer Rivera was. "It hurts," Johnson said. We were two outs away from winning, but you've got to get over it quick. All season, Baltimore had successfully tiptoed the high wire in tight ballgames, becoming one of the best clutch teams in history. They were 30-9 in one-run games this season - the highest winning percentage in major league history - and came into Wednesday carrying a 16-game winning streak in extra-inning games, the longest such streak since 1949. But all this would matter little on Wednesday, with the stakes and intensity raised. "Fractions here or there and they get magnified in the playoffs," Johnson said. It comes down to location again. Showalter said: "We'd be at home watching without people like Jim Johnson. He's a special guy. We're real proud of him. Last season, Matusz was known primarily for his ineptitude as a starting pitcher - his 10.69 earned run average in 12 starts was the worst for a pitcher with more than 40 innings since 1900. He was 5-10 with a 5.46 E.R.A. in 16 starts this season. The Orioles demoted him to Class AAA Norfolk in July and moved him to the bullpen, a role he thrived in at the end of the regular season. In three postseason appearances, he had allowed just one hit. That was before Wednesday, when his high fastball was turned around by Ibanez, and Baltimore's flawlessly clutch season melted instantly.