CHAMPAGNE SHOWERS IN THE BX AS THE YANKEES BEAT THE ANGELS TO GO TO THE WORLD SERIES!

The Yankees will have a chance to end the decade the same way they started it - as World Series champions.

Andy Pettitte pitched the Bombers to a 5-2 win over the Angels Sunday night in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, clinching the 40th pennant in Yankees history and a showdown with the Phillies in the World Series.

"This is what you play for, a chance to get back to the World Series," Derek Jeter said. "It feels good to get back. I'm real proud of this team, but we still have four more wins to get."

Pettitte tossed 6-1/3 innings of one-run ball, making the Yankees' three-run fourth inning hold up to earn his 16th career postseason victory, the most in history.

Mariano Rivera made things interesting by giving up a run in the eighth to cut the lead to one, but the Yankees took advantage of a pair of Angels errors in the bottom half to stretch the lead to three. Rivera closed the game with a scoreless ninth, clinching the club's first trip to the World Series since 2003 and putting an end to thoughts of another 2004-like ALCS collapse.

"The Angels are a very tough team," Joe Girardi said. "Until we got that last out, I wasn't sure of anything."

The Yankees won the best-of-seven series, 4-2, avoiding a do-or-die Game 7 and giving them two days off before the defending champion Phillies invade the Bronx for Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Wednesday night. CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee - former Cleveland teammates and the past two AL Cy Young winners - will square off in Game 1.

"I didn't want him to have to pitch," Pettitte said of Sabathia, who earned ALCS MVP honors after going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA. "All day, I was like, 'Don't put it on this guy. Just have a good outing and hopefully get a win.' It's great that he's able to go Game 1, but I didn't want to put the stress on him to have to pitch a Game 7."

Alex Rodriguez finished the series with a .429 average (9-for-21) with three home runs and six RBI, giving him a .437 mark (14-for-32), five homers and 12 RBI in nine games this postseason, erasing his reputation for disappearing in the playoffs. More importantly, it leaves him four wins from his first championship ring.

"In order to win a World Series, you have to get there," A-Rod said. "We've done that. Now we need four more wins."

For Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte and Jorge Posada, the return to the World Series marks their chance at one for the thumb, while the $423.5 million trio of Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira will be joining A-Rod as first-time participants in the Fall Classic