PHILADELPHIA — The Yankees were so different nine years ago, when they won their last World Series, so different and yet somehow the same. They revolve now around a constellation of imported superstars with extravagant contracts, primarily Alex Rodriguez. But their grinding ethos is unchanged.
A two-out, three-run, ninth-inning rally in Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night has brought the Yankees to the edge of a title. They ripped the heart from the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in a 7-4 victory at Citizens Bank Park, taking a three-games-to-one lead in the World Series.
“This is a team that is hard to keep down,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “They keep coming and keep coming. The Phillies are the same way. That’s one thing we know: they are just as tough. But we’re proud that we have the same character.”
A. J. Burnett will face the Phillies’ ace, Cliff Lee, in Game 5 on Monday. This is the ninth time the Yankees have taken a 3-1 lead in the World Series, and they won the previous eight.
“We haven’t accomplished anything yet,” Johnny Damon said. “We’ve won three games; that’s not what we set out to do. When this playoff time started, we set out to win 11 games. We’re at 10, and hopefully we can get No. 11 tomorrow.”
With two outs and the bases empty off Brad Lidge in the ninth, Damon worked a nine-pitch at-bat that ended with a line-drive single to left field. With the Phillies shifting their infield against Mark Teixeira, Damon stole two bases on the same play, swiping second and sprinting for the uncovered third base.
Lidge hit Teixeira with a 1-1 fastball, then faced Alex Rodriguez, whose homer had stirred the Yankees from a three-run deficit on Saturday. Rodriguez clubbed an 0-1 fastball on one hop off the left-field wall, driving in Damon for the go-ahead run. A single by Jorge Posada brought in two more, and Mariano Rivera worked a 1-2-3 ninth.
The ninth inning was a defining moment for Damon, who is finishing a four-year free-agent contract. His hit called to mind the pivotal 10-pitch walk by Paul O’Neill that sparked a comeback against the Mets in the opener of the 2000 World Series, and his stolen bases were the product of instinct.
For Rodriguez, it was the biggest hit of a complicated career, a clutch moment on the biggest stage when the Phillies were poised to tie the series. Had Rodriguez made an out, the Yankees would not have summoned Rivera. Manager Joe Girardi said he would have turned to Phil Coke for the bottom of the ninth.
Rodriguez had been 0 for 8 with six strikeouts in the first two games at Yankee Stadium. He was hit by a pitch twice Saturday and again in the first inning Sunday, prompting a warning for both benches. The pitches left a bruise, Rodriguez said, and lit a spark.
“I will say this, that the one time I got hit in yesterday’s game, my first at-bat, kind of woke me up a little bit and just reminded me, ‘Hey, this is the World Series, let’s get it going a little bit,’ ” Rodriguez said. “So it worked out.”
The three-run ninth made an unlikely winner of Joba Chamberlain, who blew a victory for C. C. Sabathia by allowing a two-out, full-count home run to Pedro Feliz that tied the game in the bottom of the eighth
Tonight, it’s A.J. Burnett against Phillies ace Cliff Lee.
