Cone took the mound in the top of the first inning and Chuck Knoblauch whiffed to start. Derek Jeter hit a routine ground ball to Mike Lansing at short who turned around and threw the ball into the third base seats for an error. David Justice popped up to short but Jeter swiped second. Bernie Williams grounded out to second to end the inning. Mussina began his dominance in the bottom of the first as Trot Nixon whiffed to start. Lansing looked at strike three on the inside corner before Izzy Alcantara lined out to short to end the inning.
Tino Martinez began the top of the second inning with a single up the middle but Jorge Posada whiffed on a splitter down and away. Paul O'Neil banged into a double play to end the inning. Manny Ramirez looked at strike three to begin the bottom of the second before Dante Bichette whiffed. Brian Daubach thought he had ball four but he was rung up for strike three to end the inning.
Cone got no help from his defense in the top of the third inning although Randy Velarde popped up to second to start. Alfonso Soriano flied out to the warning track in front of the Monster before Knoblauch hit a routine grounder to Lansing who kicked the ball over to second, running in a circle screaming "GOALLLL!!" for another error. Jeter grounded into a force to end the inning. The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the third as Shea Hillenbrand led off by grounding out to short to start. Lou Merloni also grounded out to short before Joe Oliver grounded out to second to end the inning.
Cone did what he could in the top of the fourth inning as Justice grounded out to first to start. Williams flied out to the warning track in center but Martinez walked. Posada whiffed to end the inning. Mussina remained perfect in the bottom of the fourth as Nixon grounded out to first to start. Lansing was rung up for strike three on a high fastball before Alcantara was frozen by a curve at the knees to end the inning.
Cone continued his own good game in the top of the fifth as O'Neil froze on a back door curveball for strike three to begin. Velarde whiffed on a curveball before Soriano popped up to a running Lansing to end the inning. The Sox couldn't touch Mussina in the bottom of the fifth as Manny looked at strike three on the inside corner to start. Bichette grounded out to third before Daubach was frozen for strike three on the outside corner to end the inning.
Cone kept pace in the top of the sixth although Knoblauch singled in the hole at short. Cone recovered to get Jeter to hit into a double play before Justice whiffed badly to end the inning. Mussina remained perfect in the bottom of the sixth as Hillenbrand popped up to center to start. As sad as it sounds, that was the first ball out of the infield for the Sox. Merloni popped up to right and Oliver took strike three to end the inning.
Cone matched Mussina in the top of the seventh as Williams grounded out to first to start. Martinez lined out to short but Posada doubled down the right field line past the diving Daubach. O'Neil was intentionally walked and rookie Nick Johnson pinch hit for Velarde only for Cone to strike him out on a splitter to end the inning. The Sox still couldn't hit Mussina in the bottom of the seventh with Enrique Wilson now at third. Nixon grounded out to first before Lansing lined out to Soriano at second. Alcantara was frozen for strike three to end the inning.
Miraculously Cone kept the shut-out going in the top of the eighth although Soriano singled to right to begin. Knoblauch flied out to the centerfield warning track before Jeter whiffed. Soriano swiped second before Justice walked. Sox pitching coach John Cumberland went to the mound and informed Cone that Star Trek Voyager was on in the clubhouse and David responded by getting Williams to fly out to the centerfield wall to end the inning. Mussina kept the perfect game in the bottom of the eighth as Manny popped up to short to start. Bichette flied out to center and Daubach earned the hat trick with another strikeout to end the inning.
The Yankees finally got to Cone in the top of the ninth but not without some help. Martinez blooped a single to center but Posada popped up to left. O'Neil hit a routine double play ball to Merloni but he dove on the ball and wrestled with it for an error that allowed Martinez to go to third. Clay Bellinger pinch ran for Martinez as Sox manager Joe Kerrigan went to the mound. Rather than take Cone out he told him to go get Wilson before leaving. Leaving David in backfired as Wilson doubled down the right field line to score Bellinger and give the Yankees the lead. That was it for Cone who was outstanding, going 8 1/3 inning allowing just the unearned run.
Derek Lowe came in to stop the bleeding and he struck out Soriano to get a key out. Knoblauch hit a grounder to third that Hillenbrand damn near threw away. Daubach scooped it but almost got cleaned out by Knoblauch to end the inning with the Yankees up 1-0.
Mussina came out to finish the perfect game in the bottom of the ninth as Troy O'Leary pinch hit for Hillenbrand. O'Leary hit a bullet but Bellinger made a great diving stop and flip to Mussina for the out. Merloni whiffed on a curve in the dirt before Carl Everett pinch hit for Oliver. Mussina was one strike away from perfection when Everett lined a base hit to left to break up the perfecto. Darren Lewis pinch ran for Everett and now after all of that, one swing of the bat would either tie or win the game. Nixon took Roger Clemens yard to win a game in the ninth last season but this time Mussina got Trot to ground out to second to end the game. The Yankees had swept the Red Sox out of Fenway with 3 straight late inning rallies and effectively ended the AL East race.
Jackass of the Night is a tough one since 10 out of 11 guys failed to put the ball in play just once but I'll go with Lou Merloni. Not only did he go 0 for 4 but his error in the ninth led to the only run scoring for the Yankees.
The Good:
Carl Everett got the only hit of the game for the Sox pinch hitting in the ninth.
David Cone was the hard luck loser but he was hardly a loser. He tossed 8 1/3 innings and gave up no earned runs, just the unearned in the ninth while striking out 8.
Derek Lowe retired the only two men he faced.
The Bad:
Trot Nixon was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Mike Lansing was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts and 2 errors.
Izzy Alcantara was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Manny Ramirez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Dante Bichette was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Brian Daubach was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Shea Hillenbrand was 0 for 2.
Troy O'Leary was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Joe Oliver was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
None
Honorable Mention:
Darren Lewis pinch ran for Everett in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
As the season goes down the crapper this series was a microcosm of exactly why. The Sox had 3 straight outstanding starting pitching performances against the Yankees but the champs still found ways to win. Nothing is going right for the Red Sox and it feels like the titanic is sinking. They did their best to hold on waiting for Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez to return but Nomar's wrist just couldn't get healthy and Pedro's shoulder is definitely not right. That extra inning marathon loss seemed to sap the life of this team and it doesn't look like they are a playoff contender. How do you come back from this? You hold the best team in baseball to 2 runs in 3 games by your starters and lose all three of them, how are you going to beat anyone else? The loss dropped the Sox to 71-64, 9 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East with just 27 games to play. After an off-day the Sox return to action Tuesday night with the Cleveland Indian coming to town. Indians ace Bartolo Colon goes for the Indians against Hideo Nomo (11-6) of the Sox at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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