SEATTLE -- The Yankees boarded a charter flight for Seattle late Monday night in a combined state of exhaustion and exhilaration -- jet-lagged for sure, but still absorbing what Joe Torre called one of the finest moments in recent Pinstripe history.

	“	Obviously, we can't win every single year. Sooner or later we've got to lose. But no one in here wants to be around to see it. We're all trying to keep it going for one more year. ”
		— Andy Pettitte

"This goes right to the top," the manager said, referring not just to the Bombers' 5-3 victory over the A's in Game 5 of the AL Division Series, but every image that accompanied it.

Torre meant not collapsing after losing the first two games at home -- which, in itself, made Division Series history. The manager was talking about Mike Mussina's 1-0 masterpiece in Game 3 and Derek Jeter's defensive genius in the seventh inning.

And Torre was talking about Game 5 and the overwhelming energy in the Stadium, so loud and intense, the decibel-level bordered on surreal.

In fact, a crowd of more than 56,000 was so emotionally involved in every at-bat, even every pitch, it moved Roger Clemens to say, "as a player it reminds you why you're so fortunate to be in a venue like this; the feeling I got from them on two strikes was incredible."

Torre agreed, saying, "the final two innings was about as loud as I've ever heard the crowd here."

He was probably right, because it'd been 20 years since the Yankees played a deciding postseason game at home -- going all the way back to Game 5 of the 1981 Eastern Division Series against the Brewers, in which Dave Righetti was the winner.

This time, the Yankees were putting the finishing touches on an October miracle -- stripping the A's of their swagger and self-confidence, the very tool that made them baseball's best team in the second half of the season.

The A's had taken a 2-0 lead on Clemens in the first two innings and, from the outside, should've felt bulletproof. They had Mark Mulder, their most successful pitcher, on the mound, and their most talented arm, Tim Hudson, waiting in the bullpen.

But as general manager Billy Beane would later observe, the Game 5 A's hardly resembled the team that had beaten the Yankees twice in the Bronx, and were just nine innings away from ending the Bombers' dynasty.

Somehow, Mulder, who allowed the Yankees just one run in 6 2-3 innings in Game 1, didn't have the same precision with his fastball, or the same explosiveness. A's executive will no doubt wonder if they should've forced Mulder to fly to New York a day early before Game 5, ensuring him full rest.

But to be fair to Mulder, the A's were just as wobbly behind him. The Yankees were helped by three Oakland errors en route to scoring four runs in four innings off Mulder, and as Beane said, "you never know the reason why those things happen. But they do.

"Sometimes you just have to credit the other team. The Yankees deserved to win. They were the better team in this series."

Actually, the A's discovered there's no substitute for an October pedigree -- not even 102 regular-season wins can quiet the nerves of a shaken team.

Truth is, the A's were never the same after Jeter's back-handed, shovel-flip to the plate Saturday night, cutting down Jeremy Giambi trying to score from first base on Terrence Long's double, thus preserving that one-run lead for Mussina.

Jeter casually said, "one guy doesn't beat you in baseball," but his deep reservoir of athleticism became even more apparent in the eighth inning in Game 5. That's when Jeter literally threw himself into the stands in foul territory behind third base to consume Long's pop-up.

Jeter was so committed to making the play, he momentarily disappeared, swallowed up by the seats, it seemed. But he caught the ball -- further proof that, in Ron Gant's words, "a team can get a lot of confidence when a guy is making plays like that. And it makes it tough to beat them."

Tough enough to smother the Mariners, too? The Yankees are too smart to make any predictions -- well aware they face a fresh set of challenges in the League Championship Series, not the least of which is their own weariness.

They've made three cross-country trips in less than a week, including two in a 24-hour span. Even the 26-year-old Jeter admits, "I'm beat up pretty good."

Unlike the Division Series, the Yankees won't have the home-field advantage, and after Games 1 and 2, another all-night flight awaits them Thursday night. And who knows what effect so much air-travel will have on Clemens' tender hamstring, which limited his effective Monday night and prevented him from pitching out of a fifth-inning jam.

The Yankees have no illusions about momentum or karma or destiny against the Mariners. They remember that Seattle beat them 5-of-6 in the Bronx this year and that among Lou Piniella's many weapons, no one has quite figured out how to contain Ichiro Suzuki.

But the Yankees are tenaciously refusing to let this golden era expire, no matter how close the end seems to be at times.

"Obviously, we can't win every single year. Sooner or later we've got to lose," said Andy Pettitte. "But no one in here wants to be around to see it. We're all trying to keep it going for one more year."

Bob Klapisch of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) covers baseball for ESPN.com.