Home field advantage for the Series

Home field advantage for the Series went to the AL for the eighth straight year as a result of its 4–3 win in the All-Star Game . The Phillies earned their berth into the
playoffs by winning the National League East . The Yankees won the American League East to earn their berth, posting the best record in the Major Leagues. The Phillies reached the World Series by defeating the Colorado Rockies in the best-of-five National League Division Series , and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series (NLCS). The Yankees defeated the
Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the AL Championship Series (ALCS) to advance to their first World Series since 2003 . As a result of their loss, the Phillies became the first team since the 2001 Yankees to lose the World Series after winning it the previous year.
Cliff Lee pitched a complete game in the Phillies' Game 1 victory, allowing only one
unearned run , while Chase Utley hit two home runs. In Game 2, solo home runs by
Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui helped the Yankees win by a score of 3–1. After a rain delayed start, Game 3 featured more offense, with a combined six home runs and thirteen total runs en route to a Yankee victory. The Yankees won Game 4 by scoring the decisive three runs in the ninth inning after an alert base running play by Johnny Damon . The Phillies avoided elimination with a win in Game 5, aided by Utley's second two–home run game of the series. The Yankees secured their World Series championship with a Game 6 victory in which Matsui hit his third home run of the series. He was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the series, making him the first Japanese-born player and the first full-time
designated hitter to win the award; Matsui was the series' MVP despite starting only the three games that were played at Yankee Stadium, since the designated hitter position is not used in NL ballparks.
Several records were tied, extended, or broken during this World Series, including team championships (Yankees with 27), career postseason wins (Andy Pettitte with 18), career World Series saves (Mariano Rivera with 11), home runs in a World Series (Utley with five), strikeouts by a hitter in a World Series (Ryan Howard with 13), and runs batted in in a single World Series game (Matsui with six)