NEW YORK - Pedro Martinez was trailing when he walked off the field in the seventh inning last night, and the two runners on base threatened additional trouble.
But as the fans at Yankee Stadium jeered and serenaded their favorite villain from earlier in the decade, Martinez seemingly could not resist: Back on a stage to which few expected him to return, Martinez stopped, looked into the stands, and smiled broadly before disappearing into the dugout.
It was an appropriate appreciation for a night rich in recent baseball history. Martinez had almost succeeded in defeating the New York Yankees one more time, save for home runs by Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui.
The pitcher was clever and impressive, but A.J. Burnett was better. And Mariano Rivera, who struggled in the eighth but got Chase Utley to ground into a crucial double play, earned his record 38th postseason save. Because of those pitchers, the Yankees defeated the Phillies, 3-1, drawing even in the World Series with one win apiece.
Game 3 is tomorrow night at Citizens Bank Park.
"I know they really want to root for me," Martinez said of the New York fans. "It's just that I don't play for the Yankees. I've always been a competitor, and they love that. If I were on the Yankees, I would probably be a king over here."
Manager Charlie Manuel was impressed with Martinez, though less enamored of the umpires. "Pedro did a tremendous job," Manuel said. "He changed speeds, he moved the ball around, and he was aggressive."
Of the pivotal double play, Manuel made his opinion clear. "Utley was safe," he said. "Go look. Yeah, he was safe."
Even more than it belonged to Martinez, Burnett owned the night. The enigmatic righthander began strongly, labored to throw strikes in the middle innings, and ultimately settled into an excellent performance.
In the first, Burnett retired the Phillies in order on 12 pitches. The righthander greeted Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, and Utley with first-pitch strikes, and struck out Victorino looking on an impeccably placed inside fastball.
The bottom of the inning began with two reunions from the recent heyday of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry - one of long ago-adversaries, the other of long-ago teammates. Martinez, hearing brief chants of "Who's your daddy?" that recalled 2004, opened his night against Derek Jeter.
Making no effort to hide his strategy of guile over power, Martinez offered Jeter six breaking balls before inducing a swinging strikeout on an 88-m.p.h. fastball. He then faced Johnny Damon, his teammate with the group of self-proclaimed "Idiots" who delivered a championship to Boston five years ago. Martinez's change-up provoked two sheepish semi-swings, the second for a strikeout; Teixeira then popped up to end the inning.
Burnett's change-up caused a weak swing of its own when Ryan Howard fanned to begin the second. But immediately thereafter, two sharply hit balls off the Yankees starter gave the Phils a 1-0 lead. Raul Ibanez bounced a ground-rule double off the left-field foul line, and designated hitter Matt Stairs slapped a hard grounder to third. The ball skirted under Alex Rodriguez's glove for a base hit that perhaps should have been fielded, scoring Ibanez.
An abrupt shift in strategy typical of Martinez's cerebral style enabled him to open the second with a strikeout. After throwing three fastballs in the first inning, he offered five to Rodriguez in a nine-pitch at-bat - then fooled him by finishing with a 71-m.p.h. curveball. Matsui then poked a quality curve into right for a single.
Robinson Cano following by launching a ball into left-center that seemed headed for the gap. Ibanez, Game 1's designated hitter, prevented a game-tying extra-base hit by lunging for and snagging the ball, making the catch while fully extended and headed for the outfield grass. But while Martinez had been impressive through two, he had not been efficient, having thrown 43 pitches by the end of the inning.
Burnett also spent many pitches early. He walked two in a lengthy third inning, and while he stranded both runners by striking out Howard for the second time, his pitch count climbed to 61; Martinez's stood at 59 after he walked one in a scoreless third.
Burnett enjoyed a much-needed quick inning in the fourth, with help from catcher Jose Molina and Jayson Werth. Werth led off with a single, then wandered too far off the base. That allowed Molina to pick off Werth; Ibanez struck out, Stairs flied out, and Martinez was back on the field.
On the second pitch of the fourth, Teixeira launched a change-up over the wall in right-center to tie it at 1, and score the first Yankees earned run of the series.
"Teixeira hit a good pitch," Martinez said.
The veteran continued to mostly handle his opponents. His curveball still dove wickedly away from the outside corner. Jeter hit a two-out double in the fifth, but Damon popped up the first pitch he saw, quickly snuffing the threat.
Martinez had nearly completed an impressive sixth when the Yanks took their first lead of the series. After Teixeira and Rodriguez struck out, Matsui nudged a curveball just six feet over the wall in right field, far enough to give his team a 2-1 lead.
"Regardless of what happened," Martinez said, "I'm happy I could compete in a game against a real good team. . . . That was a real baseball game."
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Contact staff writer Andy Martino at 215-854-4874 or amartino@phillynews.com.
