Hold that champagne, daddy.

Before the Yankees pop the corks on their 27th championship, they will have to get by old friend Pedro Martinez.

Martinez, as expected, has been tabbed to start tomorrow night's Game 6 at Yankee Stadium as the Phillies try to extend the series at least one more time. The Phillies held on to beat the Yankees, 8-6, last night to close the Yankees' series lead to 3-2.

Now they turn to Martinez, the 38-year-old former Red Sox ace who has made more playoff appearances in New York than any other city . . . including Boston.

Lefthander Andy Pettitte is expected to start for New York on 3 days' rest, though Yanks manager Joe Girardi did not confirm it.

"Physically, I've got to see how good he is," Girardi said. "He threw on the side [yesterday] and felt good. But I'll check with him."

Martinez hasn't been terribly successful in four appearances in the Bronx. The righthander is 0-2 with a 5.31 ERA, with those first three appearances coming at the old Yankee Stadium. After he was beaten in a 2004 regular-season game, he regrettably decried that Yankees were his "daddy," a pejorative reference that the Bombers owned him.

But that was the old park. Martinez was more than respectable in his Game 2 start earlier this series when he gave up three earned runs in six innings in the 3-1 loss.

Martinez declined to comment after last night's game, but Phils catcher Carlos Ruiz expressed confidence in the righthander.

"I feel comfortable with him, because he's a guy who's been in that situation before," Ruiz said. "He has a very good idea about the Yankees' lineup, but at the same time, we have to be careful and make good pitches. But we'll have a good plan for Wednesday."

Tomorrow will give Martinez an opportunity to amend for the 2003 Game 7 loss in which he was left in too long by then-Bosox manager Grady Little.

The Yankees put together an eighth-inning rally that started off the tiring Martinez and won it in the 11th on Aaron Boone's home run in what turned out to be the final chapter of the Babe Ruth curse.

Martinez made it very clear when he signed with the Phillies in July that his primary motivation was a World Series title. Now, not only do the Yankees have to go through him, he has to go through the Yankees. Again.

"Pedro is ready . . . He's ready to go," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "How much do I expect out of him? I expect probably something similar to what we got the other night [in Game 2]. I mean, I think that he's definitely capable of giving us six, seven innings in a game, maybe longer, depends on how many pitches he throws early." *