Sweep lets Yankees set up ALCS rotation

MINNEAPOLIS – Next up, those pesky Angels.

Seems only fitting the Yankees’ road to the World Series has to go through Anaheim, the team that eliminated them in 2002 and 2005 and has given them loads of problems over the years.

Amid a Yankees clubhouse celebration in which players sprayed champagne and yelled “Sweep! Sweep!” chants, players also expressed an eagerness to face a team that has long been a nemesis.

“I told Torii Hunter in December, ‘I hope we play you guys in the ALCS,’ and I meant it,” Mark Teixeira said. “I’m going to get that opportunity and it’s going to be a really good series.”

By winning Sunday the Yankees caught a major break, as now they can throw CC Sabathia in Game 1 – and potentially in Games 4 and 7, as well.

When the Yankees visited Anaheim last month, they had lost 36 of their previous 57 games there, including two of three during the 2005 ALDS. The Yankees took two of three that last trip.