On a blustery night where the official game time temperature was 45 °F (7 °C),[9] starter CC Sabathia limited the Angels to one run on four hits and a walk in eight innings, striking out seven in a 4–1 Yankee win.

[9] The Yankees staked Sabathia to a 2–0 lead in the bottom of the first on an Alex Rodriguez sacrifice fly and an unusual RBI infield single from Hideki Matsui.

Matsui hit a short popup to the left side of the infield, but there was a miscommunication between third baseman Chone Figgins and shortstop Erick Aybar and the ball fell in for a single, enabling Johnny Damon to score from second.

[9] Derek Jeter then singled up the middle, but Torii Hunter overran the ball, allowing Cabrera to score without a play at the plate.

In the top half of the 11th, Gary Matthews Jr. drew a walk off Yankees reliever Alfredo Aceves, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Erick Aybar, and scored on an RBI single by Chone Figgins.

In the bottom half of the frame, Alex Rodriguez tied the game with a leadoff home run off Angels closer Brian Fuentes.

For the third game in a row the Yankees scored first, this time on Derek Jeter's leadoff home run off Angels starter Jered Weaver.

They extended their lead on solo home runs by Alex Rodriguez in the fourth inning and Johnny Damon in the fifth, both off Weaver.

Yankees starter Andy Pettitte held the Angels scoreless until the fifth inning, when he yielded a solo home run to Howie Kendrick in the fifth.

The Angels took the lead in the seventh, thanks to Kendrick's one-out triple and Maicer Izturis' sacrifice fly, both off Joba Chamberlain.

An alert Jeter called for the ball at second and tossed to Mark Teixeira who was covering second, since Robinson Canó was in the outfield, to tag Abreu for the out.

Next inning, Mark Teixeira hit a leadoff single and Angels' starter Scott Kazmir was relieved by Jason Bulger, who allowed a two-run home run to Rodriguez, tying a postseason record set by Lou Gehrig and Ryan Howard for recording an RBI in eight consecutive games.

One out later, Robinson Cano walked and Brett Gardner singled before both scored on a double by Cabrera, giving him four RBIs.

Chad Gaudin relieved Sabathia in the bottom of the ninth and retired the Angels in order as the Yankees were one win away from their first World Series since 2003.

In the top half of that inning, Lackey worked into a bases-loaded jam with two outs when manager Mike Scioscia replaced him with Darren Oliver.

Mark Teixeira connected with Oliver's first pitch for a double that scored all three inherited runners—Melky Cabrera, Jorge Posada, and Derek Jeter.

Oliver was replaced with Kevin Jepsen, who yielded a triple to Robinson Canó that scored Rodriguez and Matsui, giving the Yankees a two-run lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, Robinson Cano drew a leadoff walk off of Ervin Santana, who was relieved by Scott Kazmir.

It was the fifth and final ring for the Core Four era Yankees (fourth for Posada who was left off the playoff roster in 1996) and the only one for star players such as Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, and Hideki Matsui.

[12] On April 13, 2010, Matsui returned to Yankee Stadium as a member of the Angels and received his championship ring and a long standing ovation.