Well in case you didn’t know, or an obnoxious Yankee fan didn’t boast to you about it at a bar, or on twitter or on facebook, the Yankees won the series vs. the Angels four games to two with a 5-2 win in game 6.  Andy Pettitte got the win for the Yankees to give him 16 postseason wins which is #1 all-time, passing John Smoltz.  Pettitte deserved the victory in this game and pitched very well.  Him and the Yankees were down 1-0 after the 3rd on a Abreu single that scored Mathis from 3rd base, but turned it on after that.

Definition of flat.

The Yankees never looked back after jumping all over Angels SP Joe Saunders in the 4th.  Saunders was as far from clutch as one could possibly be in this game.  When he was taken out of the game he still had given the Angels a chance, but he was setting the bullpen up for disaster if they had come back anyway.  Saunders gave up 7 hits in 3.1 IP and also surrendered 5 walks; not something you want to do in game 6 of the ALCS.

All nine of the Yankees hits were singles but the biggest hit was a 2-RBI single by Johnny Damon in the 3rd with the bases loaded.  A-Rod and Teixeira each had an RBI as well and A-Rod finished the series batting .429 with 6 RBI to lead the team in both categories.  After Joba got 2 outs to close out the 7th inning, Joe Girardi brought in Mariano Rivera to start the 8th.  He clearly wasn’t playing around and didn’t want to risk an Angels comeback but it almost happened.  Rivera gave up 1 run in the 8th to bring the score to 3-2 but the Yankees answered back with two runs in the 8th, which all but closed the door on the Angels season.  There was NO SHOT they were scoring 3 runs with Rivera on the mound in the 9th.

The Angels left 6 guys on base for the game but it seemed like they left 2 guys one every inning from 4-6.  It was embarrassing and if it weren’t for Vlad, who hit .370 for the series, then the Angels may have gotten swept.  I said it once and I’ll say it again, the Angels were so flat you knew this series was over after game 1.  Morales, Rivera, Abreu and Figgins all finished the series batting under .200.  Those were their go to guys in the regular season who just didn’t produce in the playoffs.

Congrats to CC Sabathia who won the ALCS MVP going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA striking out 12 in 16 innings while giving up just 9 hits and 3 walks.  Pretty amazing for a guy who had close to an 8 ERA and a 2-3 record in 5 postseason starts with the Brewers and the Indians.

CC = MVP

What the loss means for the Angels:  Pack your bags and go home.  But really a lot of people thought this team would make it to the WS in the beginning of the year with 3 solid starters and a good bullpen.  They had break out seasons from Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales and almost a career year from Torii Hunter, so what does this team need to do for next season?  I don’t think much to be honest but in all likelyhood they are losing John Lackey to free agency so they will need to find a new ace (not easy).

What the win means for the Yankees:  A date in the World Series with the defending champion Phillies starting on Wednesday night.  I can’t wait to see Lee vs. CC and hopefully see that match up 3 times with this series going 7 games!  Neither of these teams are managed very well so that won’t help either team.  When the games are in NY, I don’t see any 3-2 games being thrown.  I expect a high scoring, 7 game series.