Unroll the bunting

When the Yankees missed the playoffs last season, I put a "World Series 2009!" banner on the top of my Web page for the team. Well, it's 2009, and they've done their part.

The Yankees are in the World Series for the 40th time.

Tonight's 5-2 win was another classic Andy Pettitte-Mariano Rivera combination, with Pettitte winning a postseason-record 16th game and Rivera grabbing his 37th playoff save.

Pettitte was sharp all night, going 6.1 innings and allowing just one run while striking out six. Mo let a run through in the eighth but pitched two full innings, striking out the final batter to send the Yankees into November.

Despite holding the record for wins in the postseason, Pettitte had yet to beat the Angels until tonight (he was 0-4). He defers the compliments and says he's just surrounded by good guys, but tonight he showed that's just not true; he's a playoff master as much as Rivera.

The Yankees didn't break through until the fourth inning tonight after three straight innings (and several games, for that matter) of leaving men on base. In the first, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez both hit singles but were left stranded. In the second, it was Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera, plus a Derek Jeter walk, but Johnny Damon couldn't come through. In the third, Rodriguez walked, but no runs.

In the fourth, a Cano walk and Nick Swisher single, with the men advanced to second and third on a Cabrera sacrifice, set the stage for Los Angeles to unravel. It began when Jeter fouled a ball off near the right field seats that Angels first baseman Kendry Morales pulled up on and didn't make an attempt to dive to catch (a "Jeter," if you will). Jeter ended up with a free pass to first a few pitches later, and Damon came to the plate to avenge himself.

After going 0-for-4 with the bases loaded in the postseason, Damon slapped a two-run-scoring single, putting the Yankees ahead.

Angels starter Joe Saunders had been looking shaky already, one-hopping some pitches to the plate, and he walked Teixeira next to load the bags.

The crowd was pensive, nervous, standing without much motion as memories of recent Yankee collapses surely streamed through their heads.

The new October hero, Rodriguez, came to the plate, and after a hard cut on a foul ball, Saunders was the one looking nervous, walking A-Rod to score a run and put the Yankees up 3-1. Rodriguez ended the night with three walks.

The small-ball hitting was the theme of the night, as Yankee Stadium went without a homer for the second time this postseason after just one day without a home run during the regular season.

When the seventh inning rolled around, though, the worrying could reconvene as New York turned to its bullpen, which has had its issues lately. But Joba Chamberlain pulled through for his two outs, and Rivera was summoned to put the Angels away (but not before a little teasing and making it a nail-biter by letting the Angels come within a run at 3-2).

The Yankees came out ready in the bottom of the eighth, not content to be ahead by just one. After getting a man on first, Swisher showed he is actually good for something this season, putting down an excellent bunt then legging it out to force an error at first and put men on first and second with no outs.

Another beautiful Cabrera bunt looked to advance the runners, but the same Yankees that were in the Angels' heads for most of the series were there again tonight. Scott Kazmir, who was already questionably in the game after being the losing pitcher in the game 4 Yankees blowout, made a huge error. His lob to first flew way over the leaping first baseman's head, letting a Yankee run score and preserving another out.

Kazmir tried to make up for his gaffe with the next batter, firing to first to get Jeter on a groundout, but the damage was done.

By now, the Yankees knew. A-Rod was smelling it, sitting perky in the dugout. He had carried the team so far and no longer cared about his October monkeys; he wanted the World Series.

Jeter stood, holding back a grin. He was relishing the new Yankee Stadium, full of screaming fans and perfect color, with the Angels on the ropes. There's no way the game was tense for him; he knew they had it.

A Teixeira sacrifice fly had the Yankees taking the field for the top of the ninth up 5-2.

This was how they wanted it: at home, in front of this crowd, with this kind of domination, with this momentum going into a matchup with the defending champions.

A few pitches later, they had it. It was all over but the champagne.

CC Sabathia, who is almost certainly starting Wednesday's World Series opener, was named the American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player, despite Rodriguez batting .438 with five home runs and 11 RBI, and all his game-tying or game-winning heroics.

But the A-Rod that has cared about quality, not image, all season, was at Yankee Stadium again tonight. When he jumped in celebration after Mo struck out the final batter, his gum flopped out of his supermodel mouth, ruining the splendid image that should be A-Rod.

He jumped into a hug with Jeter and Teixeira, just one of the guys.

One of the guys going to the World Series.

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