Hideki Matsui homered, with his six runs batted in tying a World Series record, and Andy Pettitte ground through five and two-thirds innings for his second victory in five days. Mariano Rivera collected the final five outs, getting Shane Victorino to ground out to second to end it.
“They persevered and they were determined, a lot like the ’98 team,” General Manager Brian Cashman said, referring to the best Yankees team of modern times. “They had the attitude that nothing was going to stop them. But they had to prove it, and they proved it.”
They did it on the eighth anniversary of Rivera’s lowest moment, when he blew Game 7 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona. The Yankees lost the World Series again two years later, to Florida, and they did not return until this season, fortifying their roster with free agents around the core of Rivera, Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada.
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