The Yankees won their 27th World Series and first in the new stadium four games to two on a cool November evening that fans will be talking about for years to come.
Matsui put the Yankees on the scoreboard with a two-run homer to right field in the second inning. After the Phillies came back with a run in the top of the third, Matsui batted in two more runs with a single in the bottom of the inning.
Not finished yet, the left-handed slugger from Japan, who had a U.S.-career-high 28 home runs in 2009, doubled in two more runs in the fifth.
He wound up with six RBIs, after striking out in the seventh with Alex Rodriguez on first. Mark Teixeira, who had been having a tough time getting a hit lately, picked up the Yankees' other RBI with a single preceding Matsui's hit in the fifth.
The Phillies run-maker from their two wins in Games 1 and 5, Chase Utley, struck out with two on and two out in the seventh to end their last best chance to make up ground. Utley had hit five home runs in the first five games, but came back to earth in Game 6, going hitless with two K's and grounding into a double play.
Long-time closer Mariano Rivera came in to lock it down over the final one and two-thirds innings. He saved two earlier games in the Series, extending his own all-time career post-season save record to 39.
Making More History
Matsui started Games 3-5 on the bench in Philadelphia, when National League rules omitted the DH. But he pinch-hit in all three games, going two-for-three with one home run. In all, he racked up .615 average, third best all time for a single Series.
Matsui was one of four Yankees 35 or older in a top-to-bottom, battle-tested, power-laden lineup that produced 915 runs and 244 home runs in the regular season. The collection of talent that produced 103 wins, together with the cool guidance of manager Joe Girardi, took the Yankees through a three-game sweep of the previously red-hot Minnesota Twins, and a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels to get them to their first World Series since 2003.
The 2009 Yankees were a team that took the perennial heat generated by the Big Apple's media and overcame all controversies to live up to its potential. The fans who had been waiting for nine years were rewarded with another championship.
