ALCS Game 6 Recap

So the Angels did their part to help the pathetic airline industries by hitching a ride back across the country for little to no reason. After making the two teams wait for two days the Yankees and the Angels finally got their shot to conclude their series and see who would get the chance to take on the Phillies in the World Series.

As has happened throughout this postseason, the Yankees began the game by leaving numerous runners on base and allowing Joe Saunders to work out of trouble in the first, second and third. Saunders ran out of magic in the fourth inning when he allowed a lead off walk to Robinson Cano and a single to Nick Swisher. After another ill advised sacrifice bunt by Melky Cabrera moved the runners into scoring position Derek Jeter worked a walk.

That brought up Johnny Damon who had already failed to come through for the Yankees in the second inning with the bases loaded and two outs. This time Damon didn't miss his pitch, lining a two-run single into left-center field. After a Mark Teixeira infield hit, Alex Rodriguez worked a walk to give the Yankees a two-run lead.

The game remained relatively stagnant for the next four innings until, of all things, Mariano Rivera surrendered his first earned run at home during the playoffs since 2000. At that point it seemed that those damn Angels were gonna work a rally, this time against the best the Yankee bullpen had to offer. But in the bottom of the eighth the Yankee bats started scraping together some runs to give Rivera breathing room and with the help of Scott Kazmir's latest implosion this October they did just that.

13 pitches later and another poor at bat by Gary Matthews Jr. the Yankees were celebrating and moving on to the World Series. CC Sabathia now has hardware to dispell any notion he isn't a big game pitcher. Sabathia was every bit the ace the Yankees paid a $160 million for this off-season. He stifled the Angels for eight innings on two separate occasions, once on short rest. The Yankees will need the same thing if they expect to defeat the Phillies.

Rodriguez deserves mention as a runner-up to Sabathia in that MVP voting, and if not for the Angels giving him the Barry Bonds treatment for the last two games he might have stolen the honor from Sabathia. Five walks in the final two games made sure he didn't have a chance to have a huge impact with his bat. His final line for the series though, .429/.567/.952 was out of this world and should dispel any idea that he can't perform on a big stage.

This win wasn't only big from a historical standpoint for the Yankees, who finally overcame their regular season and playoff demons against the Angels, but also from a strategic standpoint. The Yankees now have all their ducks in a row for the World Series. CC Sabathia will be able to take the ball for Game 1 and the extended rest he is now getting will probably convince the Yankees to use him three times during the Series if necessary.

The World Series analysis will begin shortly, but at least for today, it is time to enjoy what the Yanks have gotten so far and get excited about what is to come.