NEW YORK (REUTERS) — The New York Yankees’ dynasty rolled on as the Seattle Mariners’ dream season came to an end.

Andy Pettitte was masterful before tiring in the seventh, and Bernie Williams,

Paul O’Neill and Tino Martinez homered as the three-time defending world champions closed out their American League Championship Series against the record-setting Mariners with a 12-3 rout in Game Five.

The Yankees clinched their 38th American League pennant and became the first team since the advent of Division Play in 1969 to win four straight League Championship Series.

En route to earning a shot at the Arizona Diamondbacks and a fourth straight World Series title, New York made history by rallying to defeat the Oakland Athletics in the Division Series. The Yankees then soundly defeated the Mariners, who tied a major league record with 116 wins in the regular season.

After capturing both games in Seattle, the Yankees were blown out in Game Three on Saturday before rebounding Sunday on a ninth-inning homer from rookie Alfonso Soriano. But Monday’s clincher belonged to three players that have been at the core of the latest Yankees’ dynasty.

Pettitte (2-1) took a shutout into the seventh. He allowed three runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings for his second win in as many starts this series. The 29-year-old lefthander improved to 10-5 lifetime in the postseason — 5-1 in ALCS play.

Williams made sure Pettitte had plenty of room for error by capping a four-run third inning with his 16th career postseason homer and third in as many games. The two-run shot off starter Aaron Sele gave New York a 4-0 lead.

O’Neill made it a five-run cushion with a solo homer in the fifth. The Yankees’ right fielder during their championship run, the 38-year-old O’Neill has intimated that this season will be his last.

Martinez, eligible for free agency at the end of the season, struggled in the postseason after leading New York with 34 home runs and 113 RBI. But the first baseman and former Mariner hit his second homer of the postseason to cap New York’s 13-hit attack with one out in the eighth inning.

A four-run sixth inning turned the game into a rout and set the celebration in motion as New York improved to 40-11 in the postseason since 1998. And Monday’s game ended as so many others have during the Yankees’ championship run, with closer Mariano Rivera surrounded by teammates in a moment of glory on the mound.

Sele (0-3) had another brutal postseason start. The veteran right hander, who has the most wins in the American League since 1998, was tagged for five runs — one earned — and four hits in four innings.

Sele was victimized by an error by third baseman David Bell in the four-run third inning but did little to pick up his teammate. After Bell booted Scott Brosius’ chopper, Sele surrendered a single to Soriano and two-out RBI hits to Justice and Williams that broke open the contest.

Game One of the World Series is slated for Saturday night at Bank One Ballpark. The Diamondbacks, who clinched their series Sunday, are expected to start Curt Schilling; New York has a number of ways it could set its rotation.