It has been more than a year since Brad Lidge fooled Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske with a diving slider, dropped to his knees, and screamed: "Oh, my God, we just won the World Series!"

For 369 days, the Phillies have lived as champions of baseball, carrying the hard-earned confidence that they could beat any team, no matter the circumstances. That self-assurance will receive its truest test ever tonight when the Phils play to extend their season.

With last night's 7-4 loss to the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the World Series, the defending champions fell behind by three games to one. The ninth inning featured a strong reminder that Lidge's 2009 was as unsettling as 2008 was triumphant for him.

The Phillies trailed by 4-3 in the eighth inning when Pedro Feliz crushed a full-count, two-out home run off reliever Joba Chamberlain. That buoyed the Phils and appeared to signal a signature comeback.

Lidge entered and earned two fast outs. With the inning nearly over, Johnny Damon fouled off five pitches, then guided the ninth pitch of a game-changing at-bat into left field for a single.

"The whole thing just came down to a really good at-bat by Damon," Lidge said. "He fouled off some good sliders."

After the single came a moment that will be long-remembered, and long-maligned, in Philadelphia. With Mark Teixeira batting, Damon stole second. Upon arriving there, he saw third baseman Feliz on the base, because the infield had shifted to defend against the lefthanded batter. With no one covering third, Damon continued.

Afterward, no one would say exactly which Phillie should have covered the base.

"It's the catcher or pitcher," said manager Charlie Manuel. "Evidently, there was some miscommunication there. . . . Usually the catcher tries to get down there."

Said Lidge: "To be honest, that's not really something you go over a lot. I don't know who is supposed to cover on that."

Neither did Feliz. "That's a play, we never got anybody to say, 'OK, you've got to go out there, you've got to go here.' "

Damon expected to see Lidge on third. "We have talked about it throughout the year, especially when Mark is up," he said. "I was just trying to be aggressive and get into scoring position, and it just worked out where there was a throw. The third baseman covered [second], and the pitcher did not" cover third.

Jimmy Rollins deflected blame from Lidge to himself. "I take responsibility for it," Rollins said. "I make sure the pitcher knows that on a steal, he has to cover third. At that time I didn't really mention anything to Brad, so when he made the pitch, in his mind it was just a regular steal. But with the way the defense is set up, it's my job he makes sure he knows to go to third. I'm the captain of the infield. That's my job."

Lidge unraveled after that. He hit Teixeira, then allowed a run-scoring double to Alex Rodriguez and a two-run single to Jorge Posada.

A serviceable start from Joe Blanton kept the Phillies close for the entire game.

Since a shaky outing Sept. 27 in Milwaukee, Blanton had started just twice, and only once in the playoffs. And despite the plan to use him as a bullpen weapon, he made just two relief appearances in the postseason along with that start, leading to questions about how sharp and strong he would be.

Blanton's struggles in the first and fifth innings only intensified those questions. Derek Jeter led off the game with a hard grounder to second; Chase Utley dived to block it, but could not make a throw. Damon bashed a double to right, moving Jeter to third. The Yankees shortstop scored on a Teixeira groundout, and the Phils were quickly behind.

Blanton discounted the theory that the layoff had affected him. "I felt like my command was good pretty much the whole night," he said.

Shane Victorino instigated a partial comeback in the bottom of the inning. He hit a one-out double off CC Sabathia, and scored on Utley's double to deep right center. Ryan Howard followed with his 10th strikeout of the Series, and after an intentional walk to Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez ended the inning by striking out.

The Phils stranded two, and squandered an opportunity to completely atone for Blanton's early trouble. Although they forced Sabathia to throw 24 pitches in the first, the pitcher was more efficient afterward, and lasted deep into the game.

After hitting Rodriguez in the first, Blanton retired 11 consecutive batters.

The Phillies tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. Howard led off with a single, and stole second with Werth batting. Feliz later knocked a two-out hit to shallow left. Howard chugged home and arrived with the throw, where catcher Posada could not hold on to the ball. Howard never touched home plate, but umpire Mike Everitt did not appear to notice.

Immediately after the Phils erased his early deficit, Blanton allowed two runs in the fifth. But the Phils showed characteristic resilience, and narrowed Sabathia's lead in the seventh. With two out, Utley homered to right, ending the Yankees ace's impressive performance. And in what appeared to be the game-defining moment, Feliz homered off Chamberlain in the eighth to tie it at 4.

After the demoralizing loss, ace Cliff Lee faces Yankees righthander A.J. Burnett tonight in a win-or-face-the-winter game.

"Tonight is tough," Manuel said. "We're down. But you know what? We're still breathing."

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Contact staff writer Andy Martino at 215-854-4874 or amartino@phillynews.com.