Below The Beltway

For the 40th time since 1903, the New York Yankees are headed to the World Series:

After a six-year wait, Derek Jeter and the Yankees are back in the World Series, vanquishing the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday night, 5-2, to win the American League Championship Series, four games to two.

It is the 40th pennant for the Yankees, who will host the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday. Mariano Rivera was on the mound when the Yankees clinched, striking out Gary Matthews Jr. for the final out.

For Jeter, Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte, who won Game 6, this is their seventh World Series team in New York and first since 2003. It is the first for Alex Rodriguez, the sixth-year Yankee, who hit .429 with three home runs in the series.

Rodriguez reached base five times in Game 6, and his sublime postseason has shattered the notion that he wilts under pressure. He forged that reputation by fizzling as the Yankees dropped first-round series in 2005, 2006 and 2007. But poor pitching was also at fault.

The Yankees’ new ace, C. C. Sabathia, throttled the Angels twice this series and was named the A.L.C.S. most valuable player. Sabathia will undoubtedly oppose the Phillies’ Cliff Lee in the World Series opener, a rematch of the Yankee Stadium opener on April 16, when Lee pitched for Cleveland.

The Yankees were just 10 for 56 (.179) with runners in scoring position over the first five games, and the struggle continued in the early innings of Game 6. They left two runners on in the first, then loaded the bases with two outs in the second.

Congratulations Yankees ! Beat Philadelphia !