In Game 2, Pedro Martinez pitched against Jon Lieber. After the Red Sox went in order in the first, the Yankees opened the bottom half with a walk, a stolen base, a hit batsman, and a single, scoring a run before Pedro got out of the inning. That prompted a shower of "Who's your Daddy" chants, referring to Pedro's exasperated statement after a game in September: "I guess I should just tip my cap and call the Yankees my Daddy." An Ortiz walk in the second and a Cabrera hit in the third were all the Sox got through the sixth. It was turning out just like Game 1, when they didn't even have a baserunner until the seventh. If only they could rally late and score seven runs like they did that night...

Martinez settled down after the first, and cruised until the sixth. Then Jorge Posada walked and John Olerud homered down the right field line for a 3-0 lead. Pedro was done at the end of the inning after 113 pitches. Mike Timlin got the first two outs of the seventh, but after giving up a hit to Gary Sheffield, he yielded to Alan Embree. The lefty gave up a single to Hideki Matsui before getting Bernie Williams to fly out to end the inning.

In the eighth, Trot Nixon's single finally knocked Lieber out of the game. Tom Gordon was greeted by Jason Varitek's double. Orlando Cabrera grounded out to score Nixon. That brought Bill Mueller up as the potential tying run. His game-winning homer off the Yankees on July 24 had been one of the highlights of the regular season. But this time he grounded out, and Mariano Rivera came in to get Johnny Damon. In the bottom of the eighth, Embree walked Posada but got Olerud to fly out. Keith Foulke came on and hit Miguel Cairo, then struck out Kenny Lofton. Derek Jeter walked to load the bases, but Foulke got Alex Rodriguez to fly out to end the threat.

With one out in the ninth, Manny Ramirez doubled, giving both David Ortiz and Kevin Millar the chance to tie the game with one swing of the bat. Instead, Rivera struck them both out, ending the game. There was nothing good about being down 0-2 in the series, especially with reports that Curt Schilling's ankle injury was worse than originally thought. A tendon had ruptured, and he felt it snap every time he tried to push off the mound. Team doctors were looking for some way to stabilize the ankle, but it was doubtful that he'd be able to pitch for the rest of the year. Derek Lowe was penciled in in his place as the Game 5 starter. The only reason I was even able to get out of bed the next morning was knowing that the Sox were headed back home, where the Fenway Faithful (myself included) would not let them go down.