The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Somehow, you knew it would come down to this.

Pedro vs. the Rocket, Game 7.

Zimmer vs. Martinez, Round 2.

Does baseball get any better?

The Boston Red Sox rallied past the New York Yankees 9-6 Wednesday in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series, setting up the juiciest playoff game in recent memory.

"This is as big as it gets," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. "It's going to be fun."

A winner-take-all matchup between bitter rivals - and two of the greatest pitchers of this generation - at 8:18 p.m. EDT today.

"I don't think there's a person in the United States that doesn't know Red Sox-Yankees, Game 7, Pedro-Clemens," Boston's Kevin Millar said.

And as if a World Series berth weren't enough, there's even more at stake.

The Yankees get another shot at Martinez, who threw behind Karim Garcia's head in Game 3 and then tossed 72-year-old coach Don Zimmer to the ground at Fenway Park.

Clemens tries to extend his storied career. After 310 wins and 4,099 strikeouts, the future Hall of Famer plans to call it quits following this, his 20th season. If the Yankees lose, it will be his last time on a major-league mound.

The Red Sox have a chance to turn the tables - for once - in this one-sided rivalry by beating the Yankees in their own backyard.

How sweet it would be to do it against Clemens, who spent 13 stellar seasons in a Boston uniform before leaving town as a free agent.

He pitched the Red Sox into their last World Series, beating the California Angels in Game 7 of the 1986 ALCS. That was 17 years ago to the day Wednesday.

"I have a lot of respect for that man," said Boston backup infielder Lou Merloni, who grew up about 20 minutes from Fenway Park.

"He's a boyhood hero. He's the guy I wanted to have the ball in this situation. But we also have a guy like that, and I wouldn't want anybody else to have the ball in this situation than him."

Always focused on the task ahead, Clemens left the clubhouse before reporters were allowed in, a Yankees spokesman said.

Martinez maintained he wasn't nervous about the biggest game of his career - not yet at least.

"I've got to wait for the game tomorrow. Maybe I'll be nervous then," he said.

But he's plenty pumped up.

"If I was a fan I'd feel the same way," Martinez said.

The Rocket owns a record six Cy Young Awards - Martinez has three.

"The gods of baseball wanted to see this happen," Millar said.