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CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez are doing their best to one-up each other, and on Tuesday they combined to put the Yankees one win away from their first World Series since 2003.

It has been, literally, a two-man show for the Yankees. Sabathia pitched eight innings in Game 1 to get the win; Rodriguez hit a game-tying homer in Game 2 that led to a Yankees comeback. After losing Game 3 (despite another A-Rod homer), both stars were dominant as the Yankees blasted the Angels, 10-1, in Game 4.

During his postgame press conference, Joe Girardi went back and forth, seemingly alternating plaudits for his best hitter and his best starting pitcher. The series MVP obviously wouldn't be named until the series is over, but if it were being handed out right now, who would get it? The pitcher who has thrown 16 innings and allowed two runs while winning two games, or the hitter who has homered in three straight games, four times overall and has an OPS of 1.450?

Pitcher or hitter? Hitter or pitcher?

"[Sabathia] was spectacular again," Girardi said. "To be able to shut this club down like he did again is no easy feat. I don't think you can say enough what he's done so far in this series."

A moment later, though, he was saying this about Rodriguez.

"He's been as good anyone that I've played (with) in the postseason. I don't remember a player on our club when we were playing in the playoffs maybe having back-to-back series so far like this. He's been unbelievable."

Girardi paused then, for just a moment, racking his brain for a comparison. Then he shook his head. "I know Bernie [Williams] had some big series, and Paul O'Neill had some big series, but Alex is ... wow."

Both Rodriguez and Sabathia were brought in by the Yankees after disappointing endings to the previous season. A-Rod arrived after the 2003 World Series loss to the Marlins and Sabathia signed after the Yankees missed the playoffs completely in 2008.

They both came with huge contracts and even bigger expectations, an assumption that they would provide the difference for their new team in the upcoming season. Rodriguez, of course, couldn't live up to it, couldn't even come close during his first five years. But this year he has been a revelation, almost single-handedly carrying an offense that has struggled with runners in scoring position yet still finds itself on the cusp of the World Series. On Tuesday he had a single, double and home run, driving in two runs and scoring three.

"I don't think he has to answer any of them," Jorge Posada said of the questions that hounded Rodriguez for the past few years. "I think he's proven that he's the best player in the big leagues."

A-Rod smiled when the question about his shaping a legacy was asked, saying, "I will say that in other postseasons I failed, and sometimes failed miserably. It certainly feels good to come through for my team and help the team win."

Sabathia said basically the same thing. For all his regular season success, he still arrived in New York with a 2-3, 7.92 ERA track record in the postseason. Shining on the biggest stage was something he had yet to show.

Three starts later, he is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA, with 20 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings. In this series, he's walked three and struck out 12.

"I never had any doubt about me being able to perform on this stage and to pitch well late in October," Sabathia said. "But it seems like people did. Hopefully I'll just keep it going, keep it rolling and we win the whole thing."

If they do, if they get one more win over the Angels and make it to the World Series, it will be as much because of Sabathia and Rodriguez as anyone else.

One pitches, the other hits. One hits, the other pitches. So far the biggest competition in the ALCS has been between the two guys on the same team.