Red Sox fans remind the Yankees’ Jason Giambi how long it has been since New York won a World Series after Giambi struck out in the fourth inning of yesterday’s first game.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — OK, now the Red Sox can get down to business.

Despite Mother Nature’s best efforts to prolong the inevitable, Boston concluded its regular season yesterday with two games in which the outcomes were so meaningless that even the fact they were against the New York Yankees couldn’t stir up quite the same fervor that the storied rivalry usually generates.

With their flight for Southern California already booked, the Red Sox, winners of the A.L. wild-card berth, salvaged a split with New York, dropping a 6-2 decision in the opener of the day-night doubleheader and then rebounding with a 4-3, 10-inning victory in the nightcap, played before two separate sell-out crowds at Fenway Park.

Even with nothing on the line and many of the stars from both teams sitting out, yesterday’s contests weren’t without their memorable — and even historic — moments, though.

There was the heartfelt retirement of Johnny Pesky’s uniform No. 6 prior to the games.

“It was obvious how the Red Sox feel about him — the players, front office, ownership, fans,” Sox manager Terry Francona said of Pesky, who turned 89 on Saturday and has served the Red Sox organization for nearly six decades. “I thought that was really neat. I wish it would’ve been dry, so he wouldn’t have had to stand out there and get rained on, but it was a neat idea.”

Then, after a one-hour rain delay, Yankees Mike Mussina achieved his long-awaited milestone, as the 39-year-old right-hander tossed six shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks en route to recording the first 20-win season of his 18-year career.

Also recording his 270th overall victory in the process, Mussina moved into a tie with Burleigh Grimes for 32nd place on baseball’s all-time wins list.

“That’s amazing. We talked about Moose having a good year, and I think he exceeded everyone’s expectations,” New York manager Joe Girardi said of Mussina, the first Yankee to achieve the feat since Andy Pettitte won 21 games in 2003. “And it’s remarkable what he’s been able to do. We’re not sure what he’s going to do next year, but so far he’s had one heck of a career.”

There was yet another solid offensive performance by the hot-hitting Dustin Pedroia, who went 2-for-4 in the first game, bringing his season total to 213 hits. That ties him with Jim Rice (1978) for the fourth highest total in team history and leaves him one short of Wade Boggs’ 1988 total for third place.

It also left Pedroia tied with Ichiro Suzuki for the Major League lead for hits in a season, as Suzuki went 2-for-5 in Seattle’s 4-3 win over the Athletics in the Mariners’ regular-season finale yesterday.

Pedroia got a hit in each of his first two at-bats, singling off the scoreboard in left field in the first inning and then reaching base in the fourth on a hard-hit infield single that took a bad hop off the shoulder of Yankees shortstop Cody Ransom.

Pedroia said he really wasn’t thinking about the race for the batting title during the game, but he added with a smile, “After I got that second hit, I was going to tip the grounds crew. But I’m not really big into personal achievements like that. If I finish second or third or whatever it is, I’m happy with that. That’s fine.”

And even though, again, yesterday’s nightcap meant nothing in terms of standings or playoff berths, Boston and New York kept fans in their seats until the end.

The Sox took the lead in the first when Coco Crisp doubled into the left-field corner and scored on Jeff Bailey’s two-out single.

Robinson Cano tied it up in the sixth, leading off that inning with a single off Justin Masterson, who had just relieved starter Tim Wakefield, and later scoring on a fielder’s choice by Xavier Nady.

That’s the way it would stay until the eighth, when Sean Casey delivered a two-out, two-run bases-loaded single to center to put Boston up, 3-1.

David Aardsma — relieving Mike Timlin, who had pitched himself out of a jam the inning before — allowed the Yankees to load the bases in the ninth and tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Juan Miranda and an RBI single by Cano.

But Jonathan Van Every came through for Boston in the bottom of the 10th, driving in Alex Cora for the game-winner with a two-out, bases-loaded single to right.

cthorn@projo.com