Jeter's walk-off HR lifts Yanks past Sox
Pavano shines in debut; Matsui homers again
The two teams provided plenty of it on Tuesday, as Boston tied the game against Mariano Rivera before Derek Jeter ended it with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.
Jason Varitek gave the Red Sox new life after belting a game-tying, solo homer against Rivera in the top of the ninth, but Jeter wasted no time in deflating Boston's hopes. The Yankees shortstop lofted a solo shot of his own over the right-field fence to lift the Yankees to a 4-3 win.
"He's getting paid the big bucks to do that," said Jorge Posada. "He's the captain of the team for a reason. It seems like he's always at the plate when we need a big hit."
"It's a team effort," said manager Joe Torre, "but he's led the way a number of times."
Carl Pavano made a successful debut in the Bronx, allowing two runs while striking out seven over 6 1/3 innings, but he was long forgotten by the time the game was over. Rivera's miscue cost the right-hander his first New York victory, but he was just as happy to see his team get the win.
"My wins are going to come as long as the team that wins is the ones in pinstripes," Pavano said. "These things happen, but more times than not, when Mariano Rivera goes out there, he's dominant."
Pavano made it look easy in the early part of the game, retiring the side in order in each of the first two innings and striking out four of the first six Boston batters.
Hideki Matsui blasted a two-run home run in the third, his second in as many games, highlighting a three-run inning for New York against Sox starter Matt Clement. Matsui, who entered the game with a career .354 average (73-for-206) against the Red Sox, went 3-for-4 in the game.
Pavano rolled through Boston's lineup with ease, fanning seven of the first 10 hitters he faced. David Ortiz put the Red Sox on the board in the fourth, drilling a solo homer to center, his first of the year.
"There was extra adrenaline," admitted Pavano. "The last couple of days, I've been working on slowing things down in my head, trying to focus on what was going to make me successful out there."
Pavano came out for the seventh, but Torre pulled him after a pair of one-out singles put the tying runs on base. Pavano finished his day after allowing eight hits and a walk, striking out seven.
"Pavano was great," Torre said. "I thought I'd see a little more nervousness, but he seemed very comfortable right from the first inning. He kept them off-balance and his pitch count was really good."
Mike Stanton, making his first appearance as a Yankee since 2002, allowed an RBI single by Johnny Damon, cutting the lead to one. Stanton rebounded, getting Trot Nixon to ground into a double play to Tony Womack at second, ending the inning.
Tom Gordon tossed a perfect eighth, retiring the heart of Boston's batting order. Rivera came out for the ninth and quickly struck out Edgar Renteria, but Varitek drilled a 1-2 pitch into the right-field seats to tie the game.
"When those things happen, I'm mad at myself," Rivera said. "If I make a good pitch and they hit it, I did my job. But when I get beat like today, missing my spot, I take that on myself. It's my fault."
Rivera has now blown five of his last 10 save opportunities against the Red Sox, including two in the postseason. He has not converted any of his last three chances against Boston.
"Mariano is still the best in the game as far as I'm concerned, but that doesn't mean teams aren't going to get to him every now and again," Torre said. "They're the world champs. If they don't have confidence coming out of last year, I don't know when they'd get it. We play each other so often, the odds are that it's not going to be the way you want it all the time. I'm just glad we escaped."
"Any pitcher, if you don't make your pitches, anybody is going to hit you. It doesn't matter who it is," Rivera said. "I'm a human being, a normal guy. You guys think I'm a machine or something. I bleed. Those things happen, so I don't get too upset."
Rivera got out of the ninth with the score still tied, bringing Jeter to the plate, just looking to get on base to set up Alex Rodriguez or Gary Sheffield. Instead, Jeter drilled a ball into the seats, sending the sellout crowd of 54,690 home with smiles on their faces.
"I knew I hit it well, but I thought I hit it too high," Jeter said. "We tried to bail Mo out, because he's done it enough times for us. We felt it was a game we should have won."
The walk-off homer was just the second of Jeter's career, the first in the regular season. The other? Nov. 1, 2001, when he beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4 of the World Series.
"I've been seeing Jeter for years and years, so I wasn't surprised," said Rivera (1-0). "That's the kind of player he is. Things always happen when he's there, especially in games like this. That's the way it is."
Mark Feinsand is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
After a blowout win for the New York Yankees on Sunday, their ancient rivalry with the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox resumed with a close game on Tuesday that went down to the wire.  Yankees closer Mariano Rivera had a blown save in the top of the ninth when he surrendered a solo home run to Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek that tied the score at 3-3.  Yankee Derek Jeter saved the day in his lead-off at bat in the bottom of the ninth, hitting a walk-off home run off Keith Foulke to win the game for the Yankees.  Yankees manager Joe Torre said, "We escaped today. Mariano is still the best in the game as far as I'm concerned. That doesn't mean that clubs aren't going to get to him once in a while. These guys we're playing are the world champs."

Rivera and the Yankees won't soon forget the glory snatched from them by the Red Sox in last year's American League Championship Series.  The Red Sox were within three outs of being defeated in a sweep when they rallied against Mariano Rivera at Fenway Park in Game 4. They went on to win in 12 innings, and won the next three games to take the Series, and went on to win the World Series.

Other spotlights included starting pitcher Carl Pavano's debut for the Yankees and Hideki Matsui, who hit his second home run in two games.

Today's game was played in front of 54,690 at Yankee Stadium.