Moose Wins 20th In Opener...

... but Yanks drop the nightcap 4-3. But seriously, who cares about the second game anyway? Yea, 90 wins would have been nice, but it doesn't really matter. Anyway, let me first say congrats to Moose on his first 20 win season, this was long overdue. And second, you better not freaking retire.

(REUTERS/Adam Hunger and AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

GAME 1

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
N.Y. Yankees	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3		6	10	1
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0		2	5	0

Mussina was great, he threw six shutout innings, allowing just three hits, two walks, and struck out three. He finishes the year 20-9 with a 3.37 ERA. After the first four starts he was 1-3 with a 5.75 ERA, and I thought it was going to be another down year for Mussina, but boy was I wrong. Since that start on April 17th against the Red Sox, Mussina went 19-6 with a 3.10 ERA.

The big blow of the game came off the bat of Xavier Nady, a three-run homer off Matsuzaka in 4th that put the Yankees up for good.

But the game was not without its nervous moments, though. The Red Sox had runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out in the 8th, and eventually cut a 3-0 Yankees' lead down to a 3-2 lead, but then Mo came in, bad shoulder and all, and struck out Pedroia to end the 8th with the tying run on first.

In the top half of the 9th the Yanks added three very big insurance runs off of Jonathan Papelbon to give Mo all the runs he'd need, and that was it. Mo retired the Sox easily in the 9th and Moose had his 20th win.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gardner, CF	5	1	1	0	0	1	1	.228
Damon, LF	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	.303
Abreu, RF	2	1	0	0	2	1	0	.296
Cabrera, RF	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	.244
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	1	2	1	1	1	0	.302
Giambi, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	3	4	.247
Miranda, 1B	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.375
Nady, DH	4	1	2	3	0	1	0	.307
Cano, 2B	4	1	3	0	0	0	1	.270
Ransom, SS	3	1	2	0	1	1	1	.325
Molina, C	3	0	0	1	0	1	5	.216
Totals	35	6	10	6	5	10	16
BATTING 2B: Cano (35, Matsuzaka). HR: Nady (25, 4th inning off Matsuzaka, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Gardner; Rodriguez, A 2; Nady 5; Cano 4; Ransom 2. RBI: Nady 3 (96), Molina (18), Cabrera (37), Rodriguez, A (103). 2-out RBI: Nady 3; Rodriguez, A. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gardner; Molina; Giambi; Miranda. SF: Molina. GIDP: Molina. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Abreu (22, 2nd base off Matsuzaka/Varitek), Cano (2, 3rd base off Matsuzaka/Varitek).

RED SOX OFFENSE

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 20-9)	6.0	3	0	0	2	3	0	3.37
Coke (H, 5)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.61
Chamberlain	0.0	1	2	2	1	0	0	2.60
Bruney (H, 12)	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.83
Marte	0.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4.02
Rivera (S, 39)	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.40

RED SOX PITCHING

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mike Mussina - MOOOOOOOOOOSE (6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K - win #20)

HONORABLE MENTION: Xavier Nady (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, R)

GAME 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
N.Y. Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	3	9	1
Boston	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	4	7	0

The Yanks closed out the 2008 season with a 4-3 loss to the Sox tonight in ten innings. No big deal, this was the definition of a meaningless game.

I have to give the Yanks some credit, tonight they trailed the game 3-1 in the top of the 9th and fought back to tie the game when they easily could have gone down without a fight.

I also give them credit for playing some good baseball down the stretch, in fact it was their best baseball of the season. They went 17-9 in September, won 9 of their last 11, and 12 of their last 15. It surely doesn't make me feel better about missing the playoffs, but at least they have something to build off of going into 2009.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gardner, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	5	.228
Cano, 2B	5	1	2	1	0	1	4	.271
Giambi, DH	5	0	1	0	0	1	6	.247
Nady, LF	4	0	0	1	1	0	2	.305
Rodriguez, I, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.276
Cervelli, C	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	.000
Betemit, 3B-SS	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	.265
Ransom, SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.302
a-Damon, PH	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	.303
Moeller, 3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.231
Cabrera, RF	4	0	3	0	0	1	0	.249
Miranda, 1B	2	0	1	1	0	1	1	.400
Totals	37	3	9	3	2	7	21
a-Walked for Ransom in the 9th.
BATTING TB: Gardner; Cano 2; Giambi; Betemit; Cabrera 3; Miranda. RBI: Nady (97), Miranda (1), Cano (72). 2-out RBI: Cano. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Nady; Giambi 2; Cervelli 2. SF: Miranda. GIDP: Rodriguez, I. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner 2 (13, 2nd base off Wakefield/Cash, 2nd base off Timlin/Ross), Nady (2, 2nd base off Timlin/Ross).

RED SOX OFFENSE

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ponson	6.0	4	1	1	0	5	0	5.04
Rasner	2.0	1	2	2	3	1	0	5.40
Robertson	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	5.34
Veras (L, 5-3)	0.2	2	1	1	2	2	0	3.59

RED SOX PITCHING

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sidney Ponson (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K)

HONORABLE MENTION: Melky Cabrera (3-for-4)

I'll leave you with what Jeter told the media tonight: “It was a failure. We did not do what we wanted to do, We did not accomplish any of our goals.”

"Everyone should take this season personally.''