The Yankees lead the series 3-2 and need just one more win to make it to the World Series. In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies are waiting for the American League representative.

In Game 6, the Yankees will go with Andy Pettitte. Pettitte has big game experience and seems to always pitch well at home in the postseason. For the Angels, they’ll likely go with Joe Saunders.

If the Angels win Game 6, the seventh and final game of the series would be on Monday night. In that contest, the Yankees would go with C.C. Sabathia at pitcher. The Angels would probably go with John Lackey — who is regarded as the team’s best starting pitcher.

John Lackey - Los Angeles Angels (Image: Zuma Press)

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The two biggest stars for the Yankees were Alex Rodriguez and C.C. Sabathia. Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with three runs, two RBIs and a walk. His big hit came in the form of a two-run homer in the fifth inning.

Sabathia, pitching on short rest, was masterful once again. In eight innings, the hefty lefty gave up five hits, two walks and one earned run while striking out five batters. In the postseason, Sabathia is 3-0 in his three starts and he’s sporting a 1.19 ERA.

The Yankees can book their tickets to the 2009 World Series with a win in Game 5. A.J. Burnett will start for the Yankees, while John Lackey goes for the Angels. The game will be on Thursday in California.

CC Sabathia was great once again (Image: Zuma Press)

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In eight innings of work, Sabathia gave up four hits, one walk and one earned run while striking out seven. It was Sabathia second postseason win in two starts. Closer Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth inning to pick up the save.

To put runs on the board, the Yankees relied on Hideki Matsui, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Matsui was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk. Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with an RBI, while Jeter was 2-for-5 with one run and one RBI.

The Yankees and Angels will play Game 2 of the ALCS on Saturday. Joe Saunders will be on the mound for the Angels and A.J. Burnett will start for the Yankees.

CC Sabathia wins another playoff game for the Yankees (Image: Zuma Press)

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If the Yankees decide to go with the three-man rotation, the rotation will consist of C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte.

“We are definitely considering possibly going to a three-man rotation in this round,” said Girardi, “but we’ll have to take a look at it and see how it goes.”

The biggest risk of going with the three-man rotation is Sabathia’s health. The Yankees have a ton of money invested in Sabathia and if he gets injured trying to pitch on shortened rest, that could be a catastrophic mistake.

Whoever is pitching for the Yankees will face a tall task. The Los Angels Angels have a fantastic lineup. In fact, stats point to the Angels having one of the deepest lineups in the history of baseball.

Can C.C. Sabathia handle the load? (Image: Zuma Press)

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In a pitching duel against Justin Verlander, Sabathia was simply better and helped the Yankees win by a final score of 2-1. Sabathia pitched seven innings and gave up five hits and three walks while striking out four batters. His record on the season is now 9-6 and he lowered his ERA to 3.66.

Verlander was really good himself. In seven innings, he gave up seven hits, one walk and two earned runs. With the loss, he’s now 10-5 with a 3.34 ERA on the season.

The big hit of the game was authored by Alex Rodriguez. His solo homer in the seventh inning broke a scoreless tie and the Yankees never trailed again.

With the win, the Yankees are now 53-37. The Tigers dropped to 48-41 with the loss.

CC Sabathia - New York Yankees (Image: Zuma Press)

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According to the reports, Burnett will sign a contract that will be five years and pay him nearly $83 million. Although compared to Sabathia’s contract this deal may look a bit small, but Burnett now becomes one of the highest paid pitchers in the game.

In 2008, Burnett had a solid season. He finished the season with a career-high 18 wins to go with ten losses. His ERA was 4.07 and he set career-highs in both strikeouts (231) and innings pitched (221.1).

For the Yankees, the risks to this deal are Burnett’s history of injuries and his age. He’s had a few injury hampered seasons in his career, especially when he was a member of the Florida Marlins. He’ll be turning 32 in the next few weeks and this deal will be paying him big money in his mid-30s.

However, despite the risks, the Yankees desperately needed pitching in their offseason moves and with the additions of Sabathia and Burnett, they have done a great job of adding the best pitchers on the market.

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A unique aspect about the deal is the fact that it has an opt-out clause for Sabathia after three seasons. According to reports, Sabathia wanted that clause in case he and his family were not able to adapt to the city of New York. Sabathia, who grew up in California, apparently didn’t want to take a bite out of the Big Apple without having an out clause.

For the Yankees, this is a huge signing — in every meaning possible. They desperately needed an ace on their pitching staff and they landed one of the best arms in the game. Sabathia automatically makes the Yankees a much better team and a team capable of winning the 2009 World Series.

The only worry for the Yankees could be Sabathia’s weight. At 300 pounds, Sabathia’s belt doesn’t have many holes left. If he balloons up any bigger, it’s going to be tough for him to be an effective pitcher.

That said, the risk of Sabathia’s girth and his giant contract is worth the possibility that he becomes the ace of the staff for the next seven years.

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-With the Angels turning their attention to Sabathia, some baseball insiders are wondering if the team has given up on the idea of re-signing Mark Teixeira. If that’s the case, Teixeira will likely end up either with the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees. However, don’t overlook his hometown Baltimore Orioles or the Washington Nationals.

-Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek reportedly got a one-year offer from Boston. If that’s true, that may be a sign that the Red Sox are looking to move on without him. There are rumors that the Red Sox may be looking to trade for one of the many young catchers in the Texas Rangers system if Varitek signs elsewhere.

-Andy Pettitte to the Houston Astros has been rumored. However, the latest rumor has Pettitte considering the Los Angeles Dodgers. If Joe Torre in LA, it’s certainly possible that he can convince Pettitte to give the West Coast a chance.

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Sabathia was expected to receive big offers — but this offer was even bigger than expected. However, the fact that the Yankees are interested in Sabathia doesn’t come as a surprise. In fact, we predicted Sabathia would sign with the Yankees.

The reasons why the Yankees are so interested are obvious. In the 2008 baseball season, the Yankees missed the playoffs in large part due to ineffective pitching. Their pitching was good on paper to begin the year but injuries and poor play decimated their starting rotation. Signing Sabathia would give the Yankees an ace who has a history of being one of the better pitchers in all of baseball over the last half decade.

Despite the gigantic offer, Sabathia hasn’t made a decision yet. Other teams including the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets are believed to be considering making hefty offers of their own. There’s a chance Sabathia could take less money to re-sign with the Brewers, however the type of money the Yankees are offering would be hard for anyone to pass on.

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On the season, Lincecum went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA. He also struck out 265 batters in 227 innings pitched. Throw in a WHIP of 1.17 and it’s no wonder how Lincecum was able to win the NL Cy Young Award.

Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks finished second and Johan Santana of the New York Mets finished third, while Brad Lidge, CC Sabathia and Ryan Dempster round out the top six. Lincecum received 23 first place votes — far and away the most.

The generously listed 5-foot-11 Giants pitcher is the unquestioned ace of San Francisco’s pitching rotation and has replaced Barry Bonds as the face of the franchise.

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