Arizona claim World Series place

Yankees players celebrate Soriano's home run

Atlanta Braves 2-3 Arizona Diamondbacks
(Arizona win best-of-seven series 4-1)

New York Yankees 3-1 Seattle Mariners
(Yankees lead best-of-seven series 3-1)

The Arizona Diamondbacks reached the World Series for the first time ever, while the New York Yankees are just one game away after Sunday's league championship encounters.

Erubiel Durazo hit a two-run pinch-hit homer to take Arizona to a 4-1 series victory lead over the Atlanta Braves, while Alfonso Soriano's home run gave the Yankees a 3-1 series lead over the Seattle Mariners.

Arizona's win means that, in their fourth season, they are the fastest franchise to reach baseball's premier event.

D'backs starter Johnson is drenched in champagne

The Yankees, on the other hand, are old hands at this stage of the season, and are poised for their fourth straight visit to the World Series.

Arizona earned their first National League pennant when Durazo, batting for injured first baseman Mark Grace, sliced a shot down the left-field line off Braves starter Tom Glavine.

Durazo's blast snapped a 1-1 tie and gave the D'backs a 3-1 lead.

Hard-throwing left-hander Randy Johnson and Byung-Hyun Kim combined on a seven-hitter for Arizona.

Johnson (2-1) allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings. After striking out Brian Jordan with the bases loaded to end the seventh, he gave way to Kim.

Kim recorded the final six outs for his second save in as many days.

Arizona second baseman Craig Counsell, who hit .381 (8-for-21) with five runs and four RBI in the series, earned Most Valuable Player honours.

Roger Clemens was in dominant form again

In New York, Soriano's ninth-inning home run lifted the Yankees to the verge of their fifth World Series in six years with a 3-1 victory.

Game Five of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series takes place on Monday at Yankee Stadium.

In a very tight game, Seattle starter Paul Abbott threw a no-hitter through five innings, while New York starter Roger Clemens yielded only one hit in five.

But in the final innings, New York's Scott Brosius singled with one out off Seattle closer Kazuhiro Sasaki and Soriano, batting ninth in the order, hit a 1-0 pitch to right centrefield.

In the previous inning, Bret Boone homered for the second day in a row for Seattle but Bernie Williams countered with his second in as many games in the bottom of the eighth to tie the score at 1-1.

After the two eighth-inning homers left the scoreboard showing 1-2-0 (runs, hits, errors) for each team, Yankee closer Mariano Rivera came on and dismissed the Mariners in three pitches.