NEW YORK - Randy Johnson knew this night was like no other.

"Being thrown out there on opening day, at Yankee Stadium, against the Red Sox," he said.

That's why the Big Unit was brought to New York, and he came through in the first of his many tests.

The tallest Yankee ever began the big task of putting Boston back in its place. He outpitched David Wells, got help from Hideki Matsui and a rejuvenated Jason Giambi and led the Yankees over the World Series champions 9-2 on Sunday night in the major league opener.

"I guess I got a lot out of the way," Johnson said.

Already, there were bad omens for the Red Sox: Matsui leaped in left to rob Kevin Millar of a two-run homer in the third, Giambi stretched to reel in two bad throws by shortstop Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez made a diving stop at third on Edgar Renteria, and Tino Martinez made a backhand dive at first to prevent an extra-base hit by Johnny Damon.

By the time Matsui hit a two-run homer off Matt Mantei for an 8-1 lead in the eighth, it was almost piling on.

"We're not disappointed," Damon said. "We accept the fact that we really weren't that good tonight. We'll get better."

With Boston taking the field as champions for the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox returned to the scene of their improbable triumph.

Giambi, back at first base following injury, illness and a reported admission of steroid use, received a pair of standing ovations from the sellout crowd of 54,818 and went 1-for-2 with a single and two hit-by-pitches.

"I had a calm feeling because I knew I did everything I could to get to this point," he said. "They respect a guy who worked hard to get back to where he was."

Gary Sheffield, back from offseason shoulder surgery, hit a go-ahead single in a three-run third inning against Wells, and Martinez received two huge ovations in his first game in pinstripes since 2001.

"Who wouldn't like this?" he said.

Since New York moved within three outs of sweeping the Red Sox in the AL championship series last October, the Red Sox had won eight straight, becoming the first major league team to overcome a 3-0 postseason deficit, then blowing out St. Louis in the World Series.

But following an offseason of joy in New England, the Red Sox started with a thud, pitching poorly, making a pair of errors and losing their fifth straight season opener. New York had 15 hits off Wells and six relievers.

"It's the first game we won since Game 3," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "It was a long winter waiting to get on the field again."

The usual swells and celebrities were on hand to watch the Yankees extend their winning streak in home openers to eight. A sign in left field expressed the hope of New York fans - "1918-2004-2090" - referring to the years of Boston's last two Series titles and projected date of its next.

"The crowd was ready," Damon said.

So was Johnson.

Hitting against the 6-foot-10 Big Unit is, well, a tall order - the New Yorker's playful front-page cartoon of him on the mound cut off at the neck.

He opened with a 93 mph pitch to Damon, and struck out Renteria and Manny Ramirez looking in the first, the latter on a smoking 97 mph heater. He got in trouble in the second, when Matsui grabbed Millar's fly ball and Jay Payton singled in the season's first run.

Johnson and Red Sox manager Terry Francona called Matsui's catch the turning point.

"They don't play much basketball in Japan," Jeter said playfully. "I didn't know he could jump that high."

Johnson was happy to see the ball reeled in.

"I asked his Japanese interpreter how you say `Awesome' in Japanese and he said `Psycho,'" Johnson said. "I hope he wasn't kidding with me because I called him `Psycho' after the game."

Bernie Williams' sacrifice fly tied the score in the bottom half, and New York took a 4-1 lead in the third on Sheffield's double, Matsui's RBI single and a bases-loaded balk by Wells, who stepped back to start his windup and then stopped.

Rodriguez, vilified by Boston during the offseason and spring training, added a run-scoring single in the sixth off Blaine Neal and scored on Ruben Sierra's double.

Johnson allowed the one run and five hits in six innings and struck out six. Tanyon Sturtze and Tom Gordon followed with one-hit relief.

Wells, who pitched a perfect game for New York in 1998 and helped the Yankees win the World Series that year, was starting in place of Curt Schilling, his bloody sock in the Hall of Fame and the ankle it surrounded still recovering from surgery that followed the title.

Signed to fill the gap created by the departures of Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, Wells made a shaky debut, allowing four runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings. With the temperature 43 degrees, he had trouble gripping the ball.

Fans gave him the loudest boos.

"Out in the bullpen, they rode me pretty good," Wells said. "That's all right."