Mussina Cruises, Mo Survives, as Yanks Win 2-1 Nail-biter

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1		1	6	0
N.Y. Yankees	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	X		2	6	0

I'll be honest with you; I didn't think Rivera was going to get out of that jam, I really didn’t. I was just hoping they'd get out of the inning tied.

J.D. Drew led of the 9th with a solid line drive single. Not the typical broken bat hits batters usually get off Rivera. Rivera then hit Manny with a pitch, and the Sox had first and second with nobody out. The next batter was Mike Lowell, and he lined single to right – once again a hard hit ball - to drive in Drew and cut the Yankees' lead to 2-1. Then, for the second time in the inning, Mo hit a batter (the first time he's ever hit two batters in an inning). This time it was Kevin Youkilis, and the bases were loaded, still with nobody out.

But then, out of nowhere, the real Mariano Rivera showed up. He struck out Coco Crisp for the first out, and Jason Varitek, who was a .333 hitter against Rivera in his career, popped out to first base for the second out. The next batter was Julio Lugo, and Mo struck him out swinging to end the game. "Mariano went to work and carved us up," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

(I guess I should have had more faith in Mo. I should have remembered that game last September at Fenway when he got himself into and out of a similar situation. That night he hit Ellsbury and walked Pedroia to load the bases in a 1-run game after already giving up a run. Mo got out of that one by popping up David Ortiz to end it. I should have remember the countless other times Mo has gotten the job done for this team.)

Mike Mussina also went to work on the Red Sox today. In six innings of work Mussina held the Sox scoreless, allowing just 4 hits and a walk, while striking out 5. His ERA is now 3.64, and he picked up his team-leading 11th win. Mussina should be an all star, hopefully Francona puts him on the team.

Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth once again did a great job getting the ball to Rivera. Veras struck out two of the three batters he faced in the 7th, and Farnsworth pitched a 1-2-3 8th.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 11-6)	6.0	4	0	0	1	5	0	3.64
Veras (H, 5)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2.54
Farnsworth (H, 10)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.79
Rivera (S, 23)	1.0	2	1	1	0	2	0	1.17

RED SOX PITCHING

They scored their first run in the 2^nd when Melky Cabrera singled and drove in Jason Giambi all the way from second. The throw did beat him, but he made a nice slide and avoided Varitek’s tag.

The Yankees, as they usually do, had a chance to blow the game open when they loaded the bases in the 2nd inning with only one out. But, as they usually do, they failed to do any damage. Jason Giambi struck out and Wilson Betemit grounded out, and the inning was over.

In the 6th the Yankees were able to capitalize on a bases loaded one out situation when Brett Gardner hit a sac-fly to drive in the Yankees second run.

Gardner also made a nice defensive play in the 1st inning when he threw out Dustin Pedroia trying to stretch a single into a double.

Even though they won the game, the offense, as you can see, was once again a disappointing no-show. Excluding the game they score 18 runs in on Thursday, the Yankees have now scored a total of 13 runs in their previous seven games, that's 1.857 runs per game. This has to change.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gardner, LF	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	.063
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.282
Abreu, RF	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.275
Rodriguez, 3B	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	.320
Giambi, DH	3	1	0	0	1	1	5	.259
Betemit, 1B	4	1	1	0	0	1	5	.255
Cano, 2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.249
Cabrera, CF	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	.249
Molina, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.225
Totals	29	2	6	2	3	4	18
BATTING TB: Jeter; Rodriguez; Betemit; Cano; Cabrera 2. RBI: Cabrera (33), Gardner (2). 2-out RBI: Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Molina 2; Betemit 2; Giambi; Jeter. SF: Gardner. Team LOB: 10. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez 2 (13, 2nd base off Masterson/Varitek, 3rd base off Masterson/Varitek).

RED SOX OFFENSE

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mike Mussina (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K)

HONORABLE MENTION: Justin Masterson (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K)

The Yanks go for the split tomorrow when they send Joba Chamberlain to the mound. This should be a big test for Joba, even without Ortiz in the lineup. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will get the start for the Red Sox. Last season Wakefield was 0-3 with a 10.93 ERA against the Yankees. Game Time: 8:05 p.m. - TV: ESPN - Radio: WCBS 880