Minneapolis, MN (My Sportsbook) - Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada each belted solo home runs in the seventh inning to help lift the Yankees to another come- from-behind win, finishing off New York's American League Division Series sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 4-1 decision.

The Yankees trailed 1-0 after Joe Mauer's RBI single in the sixth but again used the longball to steal the final baseball game played at the Metrodome. New York trailed in all 10 games against Minnesota this year but won each one, capped by its first Division Series sweep since 1999 against Texas.

"Our goal is to try to win a championship," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. "It's very difficult to do. This is the second step for us and hopefully we have two more."

Posada also added an RBI single in the ninth, while Andy Pettitte (1-0) was terrific in 6 1/3 innings for New York, allowing just one run on three hits and a walk while striking out seven.

Mariano Rivera finished it off with a four-out save, the 35th of his illustrious playoff career.

The Yankees, who advanced to the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2004, will next face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim starting in New York on Friday. The Angels completed a sweep of Boston on Sunday and split their 10-game series with the Bronx Bombers this year.

The last time the two met in the playoffs was 2005, with the Angels winning the ALDS in five games.

Carl Pavano's (0-1) mistakes to Rodriguez and Posada in the seventh spoiled his good start for the Twins. The former Yankees starter gave up five hits and fanned nine compared to no walks in seven innings of work.

"We played a great game and came up short," Pavano said of the AL Central champs. "The whole road coming here was still enjoyable. Obviously this should leave a bad taste in a lot of our mouths. We'll go in the offseason hungry and try to do it again."

Both starting pitchers were sensational from the get-go, with Minnesota breaking a scoreless tie behind a two-out rally in the sixth. Denard Span hit a dribbler that found its way up the middle and swiped second prior to Orlando Cabrera working a five-pitch walk. Mauer, battling a sore hip he aggravated on Friday, wasted little time sending a first-pitch fastball the other way to left, scoring the speedy Span easily from second.

New York, which set a franchise high in homers (242) this season and used a Rodriguez two-run homer in the ninth and a Mark Teixeira solo shot in the 11th to win Game 2 on Friday, did what it does best to turn the tide.

Rodriguez tied it with one out in the seventh, sending a payoff pitch over the infamous baggie in right for his ninth career postseason homer.

"Alex was huge for us in this series," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He was patient and took what they gave him. He had good at-bats all series long. Without Alex we aren't in the situation we're in now."

Posada followed two batters later with the go-ahead round-tripper, a shot that barely found the first row of seats in left field.

Joba Chamberlain relieved Pettitte after the lefty threw 81 pitches, and the reliever survived a one-out double by Delmon Young.

The Twins wasted another golden opportunity an inning later. Nick Punto greeted Phil Hughes with a leadoff double to left, and Span hit a chopper up the middle that was stopped by Jeter well behind second base. The shortstop didn't have a play at first but noticed Punto making a big turn at third and threw home. Posada then whipped a throw to Rodriguez at third and nabbed Punto as he tried to recover back to the bag.

"Nobody feels worse than Nick," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He thought it was a base hit off the bat and had his head down and didn't see the [third base coach] stopping him."

Rivera entered to face Mauer with one on and two down later in the inning and got the AL batting champion to break his bat on a weak groundout to first.

Three separate Twins relievers walked a batter to load the bases in the ninth. Joe Nathan, who blew Game 2, came in and gave up an RBI single to Posada and a run-scoring bloop hit to right by Robinson Cano.

Michael Cuddyer singled to start the ninth, but Rivera struck out Jason Kubel and Young before Brendan Harris bounced out to short to end the game and the Metrodome magic.

The only baserunner for either team in the first four innings was Melky Cabrera, who recorded a two-out single in the third.

Both clubs had their leadoff hitter reach base in the fifth but failed to move them into scoring position.

Jeter doubled just inside the right-field line with two outs in the sixth but was stranded on second after Johnny Damon struck out looking.

Game Notes

The Yankees beat the Twins in four games in the ALDS back in 2004...Pettitte entered with a postseason record of 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA over 35 starts... Pavano, who the Twins acquired during the season from Cleveland, spent four injury-plagued years with the Yankees....The Yanks won all five postseason games they played at the Metrodome...The Twins haven't won a postseason game at home since Game 1 of the 2002 ALCS against the Angels, a series they lost in five games...Kubel, who hit .300 during the regular season, went 1-for-14 in the series with nine strikeouts...Mauer finished the series 5-for-12 with two walks but no RBI...The Twins will play in new Target Field starting next season.