And true to cinematic drama, there was a quite an ending. Shea Hillenbrand nearly ended Mussina’s bid for perfection by leading off the ninth with a hard grounder to the right side. Seemingly out of nowhere, Yankee first baseman Clay Bellinger (who had scored the lone run in the game when he replaced Tino Martinez on the basepaths) lunged at the ball as it skipped into his awaiting mitt. He flipped the ball to Mussina for the first out in the ninth.

Next up was Merloni, who had botched a grounder mere minutes before that could have resulted in an inning-ending double play instead of an eventual Yankee run. Merloni couldn’t atone for his blunder and struck out, giving Mussina his 13th K of the game and putting him within an out of perfection.

Then trotted out a gimpy Carl Everett, the swaggering Red Sox outfielder who was pinch hitting as a final attempt to not only crack Mussina’s dominance, but also to salvage an otherwise disastrous and painful weekend for New England baseball fans.

And there it was—the movie’s climactic final scene. The pitcher facing the final batter. The hometown crowd cheering for the David against the dominant Goliath. The tension built as Mussina worked the count to one ball and two strikes. With one more strike, Mussina would list his name alongside some of the game’s greatest pitchers and the Yankees would mob him on the mound.

Apparently, fate has a more twisted sense of humor than Hollywood screenwriters. Everett made contact on Mussina’s next pitch—a high fastball—and dropped it in left center for the Red Sox’s first and only hit.

The crowd erupted and Mussina was left with only a bittersweet smile.

Boston ended up losing the game, with the next batter grounded out. Mussina, however, was far from happy with his one-hit shutout. Afterwards, the left-hander admitted to being very disappointed and mused that “it just wasn’t meant to be.”