Manny Ramirez watched strike three go by to begin the top of the second and Troy O'Leary flied out to center. Jason Varitek struck out swinging to end the inning. Bernie Williams flied out to left to start the bottom of the second before Tino Martinez singled to center. David Justice singled to right but Jorge Posada took strike three. Scott Brosius struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third as Shea Hillenbrand grounded back to the mound to start. Brian Daubach struck out swinging but Trot Nixon doubled to right. Offerman ripped a base hit to right to score Nixon to put the Sox on top although Valentin flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox had taken the lead 1-0.
Alfonso Soriano flied out to left to start the bottom of the third before Knoblauch singled to center. Jeter flied out to center before O'Neill grounded out to second to end the inning.
Everett struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth before Ramirez popped up to third in foul territory. O'Leary lined a base hit to left but Varitek flied out to left to end the inning. The Yankees struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Williams hit a home run to Santo Domingo to tie the game. Martinez popped up to second, Justice took strike three and Posada watched strike three go by to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Williams hits one out
Hillenbrand grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth but Daubach singled to left. Nixon grounded back to the mound but Daubach moved to second on the play. Offerman struck out swinging to end the inning. The Yankees struck again in the bottom of the fifth as Brosius singled to left to start. Soriano took strike three but Knoblauch walked only for Jeter to beat out a double play ball. O'Neill ripped a base hit to left to score Brosius with the go-ahead run. Williams struck out swinging to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 2-1.
O'Neill drives in a run
Mussina cruised in the top of the sixth as Valentin struck out swinging to start. Everett went down hacking to earn the hat trick and Ramirez flied out to right to end the inning. Martinez walked to begin the bottom of the sixth before the Yankees made a boo-boo. Varitek dropped a pop up by Justice and manage to turn it into a double play. Posada struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox blew their last chance to get back in the game in the top of the seventh as O'Leary grounded out to first to start. Varitek struck out swinging but Hillenbrand singled to right. Daubach doubled to left but Nixon struck out swinging to end the inning. Pedro did what he could in the bottom of the seventh as Brosius grounded out to third to start. Soriano and Knoblauch both struck out swinging to end the inning.
Offerman took strike three to start the top of the eighth and Valentin grounded out to first. Everett struck out swinging to earn the golden sombrero and end the inning. Mussina dazzled the Sox to allow just 1 run in 8 innings, just gotta tip your cap.
Martinez returned for the bottom of the eighth and Jeter walked to start. Jeter stole second but O'Neill struck out swinging. Williams watched strike three go by and Tino Martinez popped up to second to end the inning. Pedro had thrown a complete game while allowing just 2 runs while striking out 12. Its a shame the Sox couldn't score for him.
Mariano Rivera took the mound for the top of the ninth and Ramirez grounded out to short to start. O'Leary struck out swinging and Varitek grounded out to first to end the game. The Yankees had won it 2-1.
The Good:
Shea Hillenbrand was 1 for 3.
Brian Daubach was 2 for 3.
Trot Nixon was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
One of the rare times the losing pitcher ends up on the Good list but Pedro Martinez dominated the Yankees, holding them to just 2 runs on just 6 hits while striking out 12.
The Bad:
John Valentin was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Manny Ramirez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jason Varitek was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Troy O'Leary was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
Dammit! THIS is the reason why the Yankees have won 3 World Series in a row. They do it with timely hitting and shut down pitching. Pedro held the Yankees to 2 runs in 8 innings and it just wasn't enough. The Yankees picked up Mussina to offset the loss of David Cone and he came through for them. Its a shame the Sox couldn't score any runs because they just dropped out of first place with this losss. It always seems when push comes to shove in big games the Yankees always find ways to win. The Sox went into New York up 1.5 games and left in second place. Hopefully this doesn't turn into last year where the Sox plummeted like a dead deer in June. This is no time to panic but this was definitely not a good look to drop out of first this quickly. The sad part was the bottom of the order did well but the top of the order couldn't hit Mussina. Ramirez, Everett and Varitek were all but useless in this one. Hopefully they can snap out of it in the next game. The loss dropped the Sox to 25-20, 0.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow when they start a set with the Toronto Blue Jays. Hideo Nomo (4-3) takes the mound against Esteban Loaiza of Toronto. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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