Yankees Win 2009 World Series 7-3

A season of redemption came to its conclusion Wednesday night for the Yankees, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3, in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series. The victory gave the Yankees their 27th championship, a quest nine years in the making.
Hideki Matsui, who may have played his last game as a Yankee, led the offense with a record-tying night — he had a home run, a double, a single and six runs batted in — and Andy Pettitte, who also may have played his last game in pinstripes, handled the pitching chores on three days’ rest.
Pettitte, a veteran left-hander, threw five and two-thirds solid innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He earned his fifth World Series ring with his second victory of the 105th World Series, which began and ended in the Bronx, in the first year of the new Yankee Stadium.
Yankees Manager Joe Girardi, who last season failed to take the team to the postseason in his first year in charge, became the first Yankees manager not named Joe Torre to win a World Series in 31 years. He was questioned for going with a three-man rotation in the postseason, but it worked perfectly as the Yankees went 11-4 and outpitched and outplayed the opposition.
Alex Rodriguez, who has faced withering criticism over his 16-year career for never having ultimate success in the postseason, won his first championship, and although he didn’t do much in the World Series, he carried the Yankees through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
General Manager Brian Cashman, who has been blamed for various moves since the Yankees last won the World Series, in 2000, signed C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett over the winter with money from the Steinbrenner family chest. It proved to be the difference, and Cashman stood behind Girardi after his disappointing inaugural season.
Matsui, who joined the Yankees in 2003, when they lost to the Florida Marlins in the World Series, tied Bobby Richardson’s record of six R.B.I. in a World Series game. He went 3 for 4 and finished the series with six hits in his final nine at-bats, including three home runs.
Pedro Martinez did not pitch well for the Phillies, allowing four runs on three hits in four innings, including Matsui’s home run in the second and his two-run single in the third.
Mariano Rivera, who was on the mound at Shea Stadium the last time the Yankees won the World Series, secured the final five outs, although he did not get his third save of the World Series because of the four-run lead. Rivera, along with Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Pettitte, won his fifth championship with the Yankees.
article written by  Times reporters David Waldstein, Tyler Kepner, Ben Shpigel, Jack Curry and Richard Sandomir provided updates and analysis during Game 6 of the Yankees-Phillies World Series in the Bronx.