NEW YORK – Finally, there was life in Ryan Howard's bat, energy in his words. "Come on man, let's go," he shouted upon crossing the plate, as if adding a hardy exclamation point to his two-run homer in the sixth inning would spark whatever the defending champions had been missing since they took a brief World Series lead way back in October.
The Philadelphia Phillies brought the bravado, for sure. On the eve of the Fall Classic, Jimmy Rollins made one of his many extemporaneous observations, saying on the Jay Leno Show, of all places, "If we're nice, we'll let it go six. But I'm thinking five. Close it out at home." So here's the first lesson, to any budding big leaguers: try not to mouth off when playing the wealthiest, hungriest, most talent-stacked team on the planet.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the New York Yankees are baseball's best again.
Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive 27th title - the most in all of sports.
It was the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000.
PHILADELPHIA -- Joe Girardi might not know the intricacies of the save rule, but he knew what he had to do.
Girardi's decision to use closer Mariano Rivera for the final two outs of the Yankees' defeat of the Phillies in Game 3 of the World Series created some debate.
Statistically-oriented obervers would cite "win expectancy" -- saying that it was a waste to use Rivera because the chance of winning was so great with one out, an 8-5 lead and no one on in the ninth.
PHILADELPHIA -- Like the villain in a comic book or James Bond movie, Joe Girardi has at his disposal the most powerful weapon in the (baseball) universe.
The question now is how often can he use it, and how much on each occasion?
That weapon is Mariano Rivera, the near-automatic postseason closer.
Rivera has nailed down the Yankees' past two postseason wins -- Game 6 of the ALCS and Game 2 of the World Series -- with two innings of work.
In the first, he came in having not pitched the previous two days. In the second, he came in with three days' rest and a guaranteed off day afterward.
Playoff Pulse is our morning rundown of the night that was and the night that will be during the MLB postseason.
Looking Forward ...
For the seventh time in his playoff career as a closer (1995-96 not included), Mariano Rivera made a second consecutive appearance of two innings or more Thursday, sealing it with a six-out save in Game 2 of the World Series after he shut the door on the Angels in Game 6 of the ALCS.
That, of course, is a tribute to Rivera's unrivaled excellence and his durability, but it may also reveal something about the state of the Yankees' bullpen.
NEW YORK -- On a pleasant, Doppler-free evening made for bare, brawny forearms, Alex Rodriguez continued his postseason awakening without even swinging a bat. This was in the fourth inning, when the Angels were unable to employ their desired intentional walk because the bases were loaded. So as 50,000 fans stood and shrieked and awaited magic in the new Stadium -- all except Kate Hudson, who sat like she was waiting for Matt Dillon in You, Me and Dupree -- A-Rod stepped in and sought a pitch to rip into the galaxy.
The fat one never came. Joe Saunders walked him, forcing in the Yankees' third run when it was apparent that the Angels wouldn't score more than that off two Doctor Octobers, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. All that awaited were the police to ring their field, and when they arrived nearly at the stroke of midnight, the Yankees were celebrating their 40th American League pennant and first World Series trip in six years, which in these parts is an eternity.
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Mariano Rivera said he was amused by the supposed video proof that he had spit on the baseball, so much so that he offered to buy dinner for all the media in attendance if anything otherwise was proven.
"If we find a different angle, you will see spit is not on the ball," Rivera said before Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday afternoon. "And if you [find something else], I'll take you to dinner anywhere in the world. If not, then all of you take me to dinner anywhere I want."
Rivera said no one from Major League Baseball talked to him about the allegations before he was cleared. The allegation sprung from a YouTube video that shows Rivera spitting in the direction of the baseball.
During Tuesday's FOX broadcast of Game 3 of the ALCS, Tim McCarver referred to Andy Pettite as the "Dean of the Cutter." It was a title I found somewhat ridiculous considering that Pettite doesn't even have the best cutter on his team. No, that would belong to closer Mariano Rivera.
Rivera has booked himself a ticket to Cooperstown using his cutter to help him save 562 game in both the regular and postseason during his career, and many have wondered what his secret to throwing the pitch is. Well, there's some video from Monday's television broadcast that may have just solved that mystery.
NEW YORK -- They could have tossed aside their mittens and shunned their wool coats, that's how blistering hot the cozy confines of the new Yankee Stadium felt now that CC Sabathia had everything under control. It's been quite awhile since this corner of the Bronx has rocked with so much confidence and rolled with such delightful expectations, but that's what happens when the ace doesn't sweat.
Up on their feet, banging whatever or whoever stood near, tens of thousands of Yankee fans rose as one and emptied their lungs in rapturous unison: CC! CC! CC! It wasn't just that Sabathia was blowing through Angel hitters with shocking ease; no, it was so much more. It was the eighth inning and he was still throwing ridiculous heat, his fastball kissing the inside corner of the plate, his slider hypnotizing the batters from Southern California until it looked as if they were swinging at the big lefty's stuff with greased-up surfboards.
PHILADELPHIA -- 
PHILADELPHIA -- Like the villain in a comic book or James Bond movie, Joe Girardi has at his disposal the most powerful weapon in the (baseball) universe.
Playoff Pulse is our morning rundown of the night that was and the night that will be during the 
NEW YORK -- On a pleasant, Doppler-free evening made for bare, brawny forearms, 
NEW YORK -- No starter/reliever pair has combined to lock down more games with the win and the save than 
ANAHEIM, Calif. – 
NEW YORK -- They could have tossed aside their mittens and shunned their wool coats, that's how blistering hot the cozy confines of the new Yankee Stadium felt now that 
