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Mussina W9-2 | 6IP | 8H | 1ER | 1BB | 6K | 4.07ERA NEW YORK (AP) -- Playing for the first time in the House that Ruth Built, Barry Bonds walked through the fence rather than clearing it. Mike Mussina kept Bonds and San Francisco at bay, pitching the New York Yankees past the Giants 2-1 Friday night in the renewal of one of baseball's most storied rivalries. ''He gave me his best. He threw almost everything at me,'' Bonds said. ''It's tough when you don't face someone through the course of a season.'' Said Yankees manager Joe Torre: ''You can tell what kind of player he is when I sit here as the opposing manager saying that we did well against him, and he went 2-for-3.'' The Yankees began interleague play by ending the Giants' four-game winning streak. The teams last played meaningful games against each other in the 1962 World Series. The matchup drew a crowd of 55,053 that included War Emblem trainer Bob Baffert -- and even drew a few fans who watched from a building rooftop across the street from Yankee Stadium. Bonds, who began his major league career in 1986, arrived in a white stretch limousine for his first visit to America's most famous ballpark. Before the game, as the Giants took batting practice, he strolled through a gate in left-center field and spent 90 seconds in Monument Park, studying the likeness of Mickey Mantle and a plaque honoring Thurman Munson. ''I looked at them all,'' Bonds said. ''I just thought it was nice.'' Bonds enjoyed the crowd, too. ''I thought the fans were really good out there. A lot different than Shea Stadium,'' he said. ''Shea fans are a little rowdier. It was a lot cleaner here. They had me laughing.'' After hitting a couple of shots into the right-field upper deck in batting practice, Bonds never came close in the game. Challenged by Mussina, the home run champion hit two soft singles and struck out on a 3-2 outside fastball. Bonds drew a walk from Steve Karsay in the eighth and stole second, but was stranded as the potential tying run. Bonds never came to the plate with a runner on base, allowing the Yankees to overshift their infield to the right side. ''If you're going to draw it up, that's the way you want it,'' Torre said. Mussina (9-2) won his sixth straight decision, pitching into the seventh inning. Mussina, whose scheduled start Thursday night against Baltimore was rained out, prepared for this game by watching tapes of Greg Maddux facing Bonds and the Giants this season. ''Maybe because he hasn't done as much damage against us as NL teams, maybe we're naive in that we're going after him,'' Mussina said. ''But it worked.'' In the only other time Mussina faced Bonds, he struck him out in the 1994 All-Star game. ''Fastball, in,'' Mussina remembered. Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 20 chances. Livan Hernandez (5-6) gave up two runs in seven innings. The Yankees might've scored more, but Bonds made a jumping, backhanded catch on Robin Ventura's slicing liner to left field with two on in the fifth. The Giants' return to Yankee Stadium created a buzz throughout the game. The teams shared the Polo Grounds from 1913-22, before the Yankees moved across the Harlem River to their own ballpark. They faced each other six times in the World Series before the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, and met again in October 1962. Before the 1969 season, the Giants played two exhibition games at Yankee Stadium. Before the 2000 season, Bonds homered against the Yankees in an exhibition at Pacific Bell Park. The Yankees got an unearned run in the first, with Alfonso Soriano reaching on third baseman David Bell's throwing error and scoring on Jason Giambi's infield single. New York made it 2-0 in the fifth on singles by Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada. Mussina retired 14 of the first 15 batters before the Giants loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth. When a pitch skittered away from Posada, Reggie Sanders tried to score from third base and was out on a quick tag by Mussina, a five-time Gold Glove winner. ''I can't get on my guys for aggressive play,'' Giants manager Dusty Baker said. San Francisco broke through in the seventh. Singles by Benito Santiago, J.T. Snow and Sanders made it 2-1 and finished Mussina with no outs. Relievers Mike Stanton and Karsay retired the next three batters. Bell flung his bat to the ground after lining out with two on to end the inning.
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