But even with a cold, steady rain falling throughout the day, neither team was rooting for a rainout before Game 6 of the AL championship series.

"I really don't think fatigue is a factor at this point," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. "You play on adrenaline anyway in the postseason."

Monday was originally scheduled to be an off day, but Friday's rainout - and David Ortiz's winning homer in the 12th inning Sunday - forced Game 5. Ortiz made sure the series was going back to New York for at least one more game with a winning single in the 14th on Monday.

Both teams flew into New York around 3 a.m. Tuesday, but neither team thinks there will be any sort of letdown.

"We don't need sleep now," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "We can get it in the winter."

Nobody is more exhausted than the catchers.

Boston's Jason Varitek and New York's Jorge Posada each caught all 26 innings the previous two days, but both were right back in the lineup Tuesday night for Game 6.

"Waking up this morning was tough," Posada said. "For us, there's no tomorrow. We've got to play every day and obviously after the season, after whatever happens, we've got a long time to rest. So, you know, there's no sense for me resting right now."

Posada took a foul tip off his right hand Monday, but Yankees manager Joe Torre said he never seriously considered playing without his All-Star catcher.

"If you have to go on fumes, you go on fumes," Torre said.

Boston's Manny Ramirez and Orlando Cabrera were given permission to fly to New York on Tuesday morning instead of coming with the team Monday night. Pedro Martinez was also expected to arrive on game day after staying in Boston during the morning to prepare for a possible Game 7.

"Manny and Cabrera wanted to spend the night (in their own beds). They're beat, manager Terry Francona said."

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OLERUD OUT: Yankees first baseman John Olerud is out for the rest of the series because of a bruised left instep.

Olerud was injured in Game 3 on Saturday when the knob of his bat apparently hit him on the foot as he stumbled out of the batter's box. X-rays were negative, but he was scheduled to have more tests Tuesday.

Tony Clark made his third consecutive start at first base for New York in Game 6 against Boston.

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TV HIT: Boston's 5-4, 14-inning win in Game 5 Monday night was the highest-rated weekday day game in the LCS in 18 years.

The 5-hour, 49-minute game had an 11.3 rating and 19 share on Fox, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday, up 59 percent for the 7.1/16 for Game 5 of last year's AL series between the Yankees and Red Sox. The last weekday LCS day game with a rating that high was the New York Mets' 16-inning Game 6 clincher over the Houston Astros in the 1986 NLCS (17.0/39).

The nationally televised portion of Houston's 3-0 win over St. Louis in Game 5 of the NL series got a 9.8/17. So far, the five games in each series have averaged an 8.7/15, down 5 percent from last year's average of 9.2/17, but 34 percent higher that 2002's 6.4/11.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned to a broadcast and each point represents 1,096,000 homes. The share is the percent watching a telecast among those households with televisions in use at the time.

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RUNNING ROBERTS: Boston's Dave Roberts hasn't had an at-bat in the ALCS, but he's made an impact on the bases.

Roberts, acquired from Los Angeles at the trade deadline on July 31, has stolen a base and scored two runs - both of which tied the game late.

"Just to have an opportunity to participate has been great, even if it's just as a reserve," said Roberts, who started in center field for Los Angeles before the trade. "I never thought I'd be a part of Yankees-Red Sox with the winner going to the World Series. It's a part of history."

In the ninth inning of Game 4, Roberts pinch ran for Kevin Millar, who drew a leadoff walk from Mariano Rivera. After some pickoff throws, Roberts stole second and scored the tying run on Bill Mueller's RBI single.

In Game 5, Roberts scored the tying run as a pinch runner again - this time in the eighth inning. After Ortiz's homer made it 4-3, Tom Gordon walked Millar. Roberts came in to run for him, went to third on Trot Nixon's single and scored on Jason Varitek's sacrifice fly to tie it at 4.

"You just have to pay attention to him," Gordon said. "You don't want to get out of your rhythm, but he makes you pay attention to him."

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TIME TO TALK: Willie Randolph, the Yankees' bench coach, is tentatively set to talk with Mets GM Omar Minaya on Thursday about the team's managing job. They had been set to meet Monday before rain Friday wiped out the travel day.

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