MLB- Yankees Advance to the World Series after Beating Angels 5-2

It took six games, but the New York Yankees finally won the American League title – the 40th in franchise history – and, more importantly, earned a berth in the World Series. New York advanced after defeating the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 in Game 6 of the series on Sunday night. The Yankees, coming off a phenomenal season, were hoping to halt an alarming trend in team history that showed them making abrupt exits from the playoffs – 2005, 2006, and 2007. There was also their big choke in 2004, when the Yankees were eliminated from their series against the Boston Red Sox after being up 3-0. Now, they may no longer have a throne in the World Series, but they managed to eke out a spot nonetheless. Their opponents: the Los Angeles Angels, a team with remarkable defensive skills during the regular season, one that played incredibly well in a year when key players were were left out of the season due to injuries and when its young pitcher, 22-year old Nick Adenhart, died in a car accident. It was to Nick that the Angels dedicated their postseason. But Adenhart’s memory was not enough; the Angels made a number of errors in the AL series that lost them the title and a chance at the World Series. Game 6, at the Yankees’ brand-new stadium in Harlem, was fraught with tension: the Yankees needed only win for the title; the Angels wanted to push for a decisive Game 7. Whatever their motives, the teams left the first two innings scoreless. The Angels finally opened the score in the third after an RBI single by Bobby Abreu that sent catcher Jeff Mathis to home. The Yankees exploded back in the bottom of the fourth, reacting with 3 runs. Johnny Damon drove in the first two with a single to center lawn, while Alex Rodriguez used balls from Angels starter Joe Saunders to get on base. Derek Jeter walked home, and the Yankees were suddenly up 3-1. Andy Pettite made a great show for the Yankees in the next innings, preventing the Angels from closing the lead for six and a half innings. But in the eighth, Anaheim managed to reduce the Yankees’ advantage to one run on the board after star reliever Mariano Rivera was beat with a hit by Vladimir Guerrero. The score was now 3-2, Yankees. However, the Yankees managed to capitalize on mistakes from the suddenly error-prone Angels and extended their lead. Robinson Cano advanced on base with balls, and Angels pitcher Ervin Santana was relieved with lefty Scott Kazmir. Kazmir faced Nick Swisher, who sent the ball to the side of first base, but Kendry Morales let the ball from second baseman Howard Kendricks drop. Then Kazmir committed another costly error, flying his initial shot after fielding a ball from Melky Cabrera, a mistake that sent Cano to home plate to score yet again for the Yankees. Jeter was struck out, but Damon helped load the bases. Then Mark Teixeira hit a deep fly out to center to push in the second run of the inning and the fifth of the game. The game ended with a score of 5-2 in favor of the Yankees. “That’s what you play for. In order to win a World Series, you have to get there first,” said Rodriguez of the Yankees-Angels series. “I couldn’t be more excited. I feel like a 10-year-old kid. The whole year for me was about trusting my teammates and being one of the guys.” The Yankees will face the defending champions, the Philadelphia Phillies, in the World Series Opener on Wednesday night. Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee will face ALCS MVP CC Sabathia of the Yankees in a matchup that is sure to see intense action.