NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees bolted from the dugout even before the last grounder was scooped up. After waiting nine years for championship No. 27, no one would dare hold them back.

"It feels better than I remember it, man," captain Derek Jeter said. "It's been a long time."

Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive title — the most in all of sports.

Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the Yankees are baseball's best again.

Matsui, the Series MVP, powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez. And when Mariano Rivera got the final out, it was ecstasy in the Bronx for George Steinbrenner's go-for-broke bunch.

What a way for Alex Rodriguez and Co. to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one World Series crown — the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000.

"The Yankees won. The world is right again," team president Randy Levine said.

The season certainly ended a lot better than it started — with a steroids scandal involving A-Rod, followed by hip surgery that kept him out until May.

"My teammates, coaches and the organization stood by me and now we stand here as world champions," said Rodriguez, who admitted using steroids from 2001-03 while with Texas. "We're going to enjoy it, and we're going to party!"

For Chase Utley and the Phillies, it was a frustrating end to another scintillating season. Philadelphia fell two wins short of becoming the first NL team to repeat as World Series champions since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds.

Utley tied Reggie Jackson's record with five home runs in a Series. But Ryan Howard's sixth-inning shot came too late to wipe away an untimely slump that included 13 strikeouts, also a Series mark.

Meanwhile, Phillies pitchers rarely managed to slow Matsui and the Yankees' machine.

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