 In game seven at Yankee Stadium , the Red Sox held a 5 – 2 lead through seven innings due to an ineffective start by Roger Clemens , but the Yankees remained in the game because of three shutout innings of relief by Mike Mussina in his first career relief appearance . After Boston Red Sox starter Pedro Martínez gave up a run in the eighth , manager Grady Little visited the mound but elected to leave a tiring Martínez to complete the inning . Martínez then gave up a ground @-@ rule double to Hideki Matsui , and Yankees catcher Jorge Posada <unk> a double into center field that drove in two runners and tied the game . The game went into extra innings and in the bottom of the eleventh inning , leadoff hitter Aaron Boone , grandson of Ray Boone , a ( retired ) longtime scout with the Red Sox , hit a solo home run off of Tim Wakefield to left field , ending the game and the series , giving the Yankees their 39th American League pennant . The Long Island , New York , newspaper Newsday went to the press before the game was over , and thinking Boston would win the game , editorialized as to what was wrong with the Yankees , and why they had lost the ALCS to the Red Sox . In a postgame interview , Red Sox <unk> Kevin Millar described the emotions in the Red Sox locker room : " It was like we were all back in high school , like we 'd all just gotten beat in the state playoffs , and everyone was going to graduate .... When you 're a teenager and you lose the big football game , that 's when you see guys cry uncontrollably . You don 't [ usually ] see that much at this level . " 
