BRONX, NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees are World Series champions for the 27th time in their illustrious history.  With Mariano Rivera, baseball's all-time master postseason closer, registering the final five outs, the Yankees held on for a 7-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series on Wednesday night, claiming their first title since 2000.  The combination of designated hitter Hideki Matsui's six-RBI performance and lefty Andy Pettitte's strong work on three days' rest put New York in charge. The fans at Yankee Stadium began to sense early that the next chapter in team history was about to be written, and they were itching to hear "Enter Sandman," Rivera's entrance music.

They got their wish with one out in the eighth, after Damaso Marte got Ryan Howard to strike out swinging. Although Rivera gave up a double to Raul Ibanez, he got out of the eighth on a Pedro Feliz popout, before a 1-2-3 ninth.  With that, the Yankees set off a World Series celebration not seen in the Bronx since they swept the Braves in 1999.  What was turning into a blowout got a little tighter when Howard delivered a two-run homer off Pettitte in the sixth to cut the lead to four runs. Pettitte received a standing ovation from the crowd on his way off the field as Joba Chamberlain came in to relieve him with two outs in the sixth.

Chamberlain got Pedro Feliz to ground out to end the threat, and Pettitte's night was officially over, having allowed three earned runs on four hits while walking five. Chamberlain got the first two outs of the seventh but left two baserunners on with Chase Utley coming to the plate, bringing Marte in from the bullpen.  With Phil Hughes warming up in the 'pen, Marte got Utley out on a check swing to end the threat. Girardi said he was willing to use Rivera for two innings in Game 6, and Rivera was warming up in the bottom of the seventh before replacing Marte in the eighth.  Matsui, now 8-for-13 with eight RBIs in the series, put an early charge into the Yankee Stadium crowd by hitting a towering two-run homer inside the pole in right field to give the Yankees the first lead in the bottom of the second. He added a two-run single in the third and a two-run double in the fifth.

Matsui's assault was largely responsible for Pedro Martinez's night ending after four innings, replaced by right-hander Chad Durbin to start the bottom of the fifth.  Martinez threw 77 pitches before giving way to Durbin, finishing with four runs allowed on three hits while striking out five. The Yankees added a run off Durbin in the fifth on a Mark Teixeira single to score Derek Jeter, and J.A. Happ came on in relief with one out recorded, surrendering Matsui's double to put the Yankees ahead by six.

Early on, the stage was set for a duel of veteran pitchers Pettitte and Martinez. Matsui boosted the Yankees early with his homer, but the Phillies responded quickly in the top of the third, with Carlos Ruiz tripling and scoring on a Jimmy Rollins sacrifice fly, cutting the Yankees' lead to one run.  Matsui stretched the lead again with his two-run single with the bases loaded, outdueling Martinez a second time. In an eight-pitch at-bat in the second inning, Matsui's third homer of the series gave some early support to Pettitte, who put up zeroes in the first two innings before Ruiz's triple.

Pettitte, pitching on short rest in the postseason for the first time since 2003, kept the ball in the infield in the top of the first inning and shook off a walk to get through the second before buckling a bit in the third. Martinez had to battle to get out of the bottom of the third, and didn't emerge unscathed. Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee hit the phone to get lefty J.A. Happ warming up in the bullpen after a one-out walk of Johnny Damon put runners at the corners, and Martinez followed by hitting Mark Teixeira with a pitch to load the bases, bringing Dubee out to the mound.

In the first World Series played to a sixth game since 2003, the Yankees took their first World Series title since a run of three in a row ended in 2000. The Phillies were trying to become the first team since the 1985 Royals to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series, one of only six such comebacks in 104 previous Fall Classics.  The teams split the two games at Yankee Stadium before the series shifted to Philadelphia, where the Yankees won Game 3 and Game 4 before the Phillies took Game 5 on Monday night.

PHILADELPHIA -- Johnny Damon dashed into the history books, Alex Rodriguez delivered the hit he has waited his whole life for and suddenly, the Yankees are one victory from their 27th World Series title.  The Bombers stunned Brad Lidge and a sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park with an astonishing ninth-inning rally on Sunday, securing Game 4 of the Fall Classic with a wild 7-4 decision, moving just nine innings away from celebrating in the Canyon of Heroes.

"I've said all along that I've felt this club has been extremely resilient all year," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We've been through some up-and-down times, and our guys have gotten back up and played extremely well. All I think about is playing a good game tomorrow."  Using the formula that fueled 103 regular-season victories and now 10 more in the postseason, the Yankees dealt a crushing defeat to the Phillies after Pedro Feliz had provided hope with a game-tying eighth-inning homer off Joba Chamberlain.

The 105th World Series may have turned for good in the top of the ninth, as Damon finished a hard-fought nine-pitch at-bat against Lidge with a two-out flared single into left field. What followed was a display of instinctual baserunning that will be replayed and referenced for years to come.  Stealing second base on a slider in the dirt, Damon knew the infield had shifted for Mark Teixeira -- who was batting left-handed -- and he executed a popup slide to see that third base was left uncovered by Feliz, who was near second. Damon instantly broke, hoping his legs had enough juice left in them to outrun Feliz to third.

"I knew Feliz covered the bag, and I knew how he caught the ball," Damon said. "When I saw him right behind me, I thought, 'Man, I hope I'm still the Johnny Damon of 21 years old and not the 35-year-old guy.'"  In the Yankees' dugout, players were speechless for a moment until they realized where Damon was going. When Damon pulled into third base safely after the footrace, the Bombers erupted into applause.  "He called himself an 'Idiot' a few years back, right?" captain Derek Jeter said, referencing Damon's nickname on the 2004 Red Sox. "He looked pretty smart on that play."

When Teixeira was hit by a pitch, Rodriguez stepped to the plate in perhaps the biggest situation of his 16-year career. Expecting Lidge to stay away from his trademark slider with Damon 90 feet away, A-Rod crushed a fastball down the left-field line for a go-ahead double.  "There's no question, I have never had a bigger hit," Rodriguez said. "When I get good pitches to hit and I put a good swing on it, good things usually happen."  Jorge Posada added a two-run single, which was enough for the Yankees, who again got to savor what an advantage they have in handing the ball to Mariano Rivera. The future Hall of Famer locked down the ninth inning with eight pitches, recording his 11th World Series save.

"It's not a luxury every team has," Jeter said. "There isn't a closer that has ever played this game that you'd want to see in that position other than him. He comes around once in a lifetime."  Ace CC Sabathia -- signed to a $161 million deal last offseason -- started and did not have his sharpest command, but he dodged damage often enough to put together a gutsy effort and depart after 6 2/3 innings, entrusting a one-run lead to the bullpen.  Sabathia hung tough against Philadelphia despite seeing Posada wear a path to the mound with frequent visits that earned a chorus of boos.

"They're a good team," Sabathia said of the Phillies. "You know, they're the defending champs. They have an American League lineup, and you have to battle. There's really no time limit on the game, so it's up to us to make sure we're making the right pitches and doing the right things."  Sabathia's 107th and final pitch was rocketed over the right-field wall for a home run by Chase Utley -- who has hit three off Sabathia during the Fall Classic -- and it was the only call Posada would second-guess.  "He was outstanding," Posada said. "He really gave us a chance to win. If we can take one pitch back, I would take the pitch that Utley hit. Everything else, you really have to give credit to the hitters. He was on."  The Yankees gave Sabathia early breathing room with two first-inning runs, and after the Phillies tied the game by scoring in the first and fourth innings, Jeter and Damon logged fifth-inning RBI singles to regain the lead from Joe Blanton, who allowed four runs in six frames.

Warnings were issued to both clubs in the first inning after A-Rod was hit by a Blanton offering, Rodriguez's third plunking of the World Series. While Rodriguez later declined to discuss being hit, TV microphones captured Rodriguez telling home-plate umpire Mike Everitt, "It's the third time. It's a little obvious."  The Yankees thought it was the best that they have seen Chamberlain in some time, with Posada calling his stuff "electric."  But Chamberlain missed his location with a fastball to Feliz, who slugged it for the game-tying homer, bringing the Philadelphia crowd back to life.  That frenzy of white towel-waving persisted for a span of just three more outs, as Damon and Rodriguez combined to suck the passion out of the building and leave the Phillies despondent about their hope of being baseball's first back-to-back World Series title team since the dynasty Bombers of the late 1990s.

"That's this team," Chamberlain said. "We just go out and pick each other up. In the bullpen, you get to go back out there tomorrow. I can't say enough of these guys for picking me up."  A.J. Burnett gets the ball on Monday evening, when the Yankees will try to topple Cliff Lee -- who beat New York with a dominant complete-game effort in Game 1 -- as the final stumbling block to a championship title.  "We won't think about that now until it's done," Damon said. "They're a great team. We're not going to count anything until our job is finished."

PHILADELPHIA -- If Reggie Jackson is Mr. October, Andy Pettitte has to be Mr. Postseason.  There has never been a more successful pitcher in October baseball than the Yankees left-hander from Texas. His big heart and gritty determination showed why Saturday on a miserable night at Citizens Bank Park.  He won his record 17th postseason game, sending the Phillies to a crushing 8-5 setback that may make defending their World Series title a long shot.

New York's victory, after an 80-minute rain delay, gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven tournament with their 27th championship well within sight.  I've always felt the third World Series game is pivotal. It became just that for the Yankees, who gained the momentum when they evened the Series in New York on Thursday night and extended in true Halloween fashion.  Now, the Yankees are in firm control and will send their ace, CC Sabathia, to the mound Sunday night on three days' rest. They'll be heavily favored to move a giant step closer to winning their first World Series since 2000.  Yes, this World Series may be all but over.

Sabathia, a 6-1 loser in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, will be the first pitcher to start a World Series game on three days' rest since 23-year-old Josh Beckett tossed a five-hit shutout that clinched the Florida Marlins' 2003 World Series title. CC will be opposed by Joe Blanton, who hasn't started a game in almost two weeks.  Even if the Phillies salvage a win or even two at home the next two nights, they'll have to be successful in the unfriendly environment of Yankee Stadium.

"We'll come out tomorrow and we'll try to play better and hard," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel after Saturday's loss. "We're that kind of team."  Pettitte, who said the rain delay interrupted his normal pregame routine, merely teased the Phillies when they vaulted out to a 3-0 lead after two innings. He then held them in check and even drove in a run himself when the Yankees took a 5-3 lead against struggling, ineffective Cole Hamels.  Pettitte said he's been in rain delays a lot this year, "but it really affected me a little bit today. I was heated up, ready to go and felt like I was in a real good place mentally. As I was about to walk out the [clubhouse] door to go to the bullpen, they shut me down."  He was brilliant at snuffing out the Phillies' left-handed batters.  Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez were 0-for-9, with six strikeouts.

Howard struck out six consecutive times (four in Game 2) before popping up to the shortstop in the sixth inning, then fanned again in the eighth with reliever Damaso Marte, another left-hander, on the mound.  Howard, MVP of the National League Championship Series, is now 2-for-13 with nine strikeouts. He hasn't had a hit since Game 1.  "It was a battle tonight," said Pettitte. "I wasn't able to get my breaking ball over. Fortunately enough, they had some lefties in the lineup that I was able to cut some balls, get away from them in some big situations and able to get some outs when I needed to get some."

The Phillies quickly built a 3-0 lead after two innings, but after that -- except for Jayson Werth's second home run of the night, a blast in the sixth -- Pettitte shut the door.  "The biggest thing was he closed out our left-handed hitters; he got our left-handed hitters out," said Manuel.  Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, "You start talking about Utley and Howard and Ibanez, you're talking about three dangerous hitters. I thought Andy located the ball well. He used his fastball well and came inside. He just did a lot of things to get three really good hitters out."  After Pettitte punched out Utley, with runners on first and second and two down in the second, he didn't allow a hit until Werth led off the sixth with his homer.

Pettitte completely took away Philadelphia's offensive momentum when he set them down in order in the third inning. He did the same thing in the fifth and would have in the fourth had it not been for Alex Rodriguez's throwing error.  In all, Pettitte allowed five hits during six innings and struck out seven.  He admitted he struggled early, not being able to locate his pitches.  After the second, he said, "well, you're thinking, 'I've given up three, don't give up another one.' After that, I was frustrated and I'm thinking, 'You've got to go six or seven right there. You cannot give up another run.'"

With all his postseason success, he cannot ever remember winning a game when he fell behind 3-0 and couldn't find his normal groove.  "I may have, but I can't recall wining a game where I've struggled like I did tonight. It's very gratifying to be able to go out there and just battle through it. I knew after the first inning the ball wasn't going where I wanted it to exactly, and usually lately it has been."  Pettitte said the Phillies "had me on the ropes and I'm thankful I was able to get out of that [second] inning without giving up more than those three runs That was big for me right there."  And the reason why he picked up the pieces, rebuilt his game and is Mr. Postseason.