Charlie Manuel was smiling in his office, 16 hours after his team handed the New York Yankees a nearly insurmountable lead in the World Series.
"I feel fine," the Phillies manager said, leaning back in the chair behind his desk. "Ready to go. Looking forward to it. . . . We came to the ballpark to win today."
On this team, Manuel sets the mood. The manager did not need to hold a meeting or deliver a speech; his players knew him too well. They knew that he expected them to worry only about playing a focused baseball game, and have fun doing it.
That in-the-moment mind-set has always been the team's strength during the Manuel era, and it allowed the Phils to extend their season tonight. They defeated the New York Yankees, 8-6, in Game 5 of the World Series, and now trail by three games to two. The Series moves back to New York on Wednesday.
They did it despite falling behind in the first inning, and suffering through a sweaty finish by Ryan Madson. They did it despite Brad Lidge's horrific ninth inning the night before, in which Johnny Damon outlasted the Phils closer in an at-bat and stole two bases while the infield bumbled. They did it because of another strong performance by Cliff Lee, until the ace tired in the seventh and allowed three runs.
Lidge did not have the chance to atone for Sunday's loss, and Madson created a nervous ninth. He allowed leadoff hits to Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui, but got Derek Jeter to hit into a run-scoring double play.
After the persistent Damon singled, Mark Teixeira struck out to end the game.
Ultimately, the win was made possible by Chase Utley's two home runs, which tied him with Reggie Jackson for most in a World Series, with five. Jackson accomplished the feat in 1977, playing for the team the Phils beat tonight.
For the first several minutes, the Yankees appeared ready to romp. Game 1 master Lee allowed as many runs in the first inning tonight as he had during his entire complete-game World Series debut. The Yanks' early offense came from the two players who snatched Game 3 from Brad Lidge.
Damon, whose tenacious hitting and alert baserunning decided Sunday's game, began this rally with a one-out single to center. After Teixeira flied out, Alex Rodriguez, whose double scored Damon in the ninth on Sunday, drove in the leftfielder with another double. Before escaping the inning, Lee walked Nick Swisher, and threw an uncharacteristically inefficient eight balls in 19 first-inning pitches.
A.J. Burnett's shutdown pitching in Game 2 reversed the tone of the Series after the Phils took the opener, but the Yanks' starter gave his opponents fresh life tonight. Jimmy Rollins hit a leadoff single, and when Shane Victorino squared to bunt, Burnett whacked him on the hand with an inside fastball.
Phils pitchers plunked Rodriguez three times in the previous two games, so the Victorino play drew pointed jeers from the crowd and barking from the player. Utley batted next, and provided the game's defining moment: The second baseman crushed a curveball that arrived on the outer part of the strike zone.
The three-run homer gave the Phils an important early lead, and signaled to the Yankees that a clinching celebration would not come easily. Lee worked quickly through the bottom third of the Yankees' order in the second, made weaker by an injury to Melky Cabrera that landed Brett Gardner in center field, and by Jose Molina's start at catcher to accommodate Burnett.
Early in the game, Lee was not as sharp as in his previous playoff starts, but he managed to be effective. Through three innings, he threw nearly as many balls as strikes and walked one fewer hitter than in all of his previous postseason appearances combined. But he found a way to get outs, and Rodriguez's RBI double in the first was the last Yankees hit until the fifth.
Burnett's struggles were far more pronounced. After 44 pitches, he had thrown an equal number of balls and strikes; soon after, he was gone. The righthander walked Utley and Ryan Howard to begin the third, and suffered for it by allowing a Jayson Werth single that made it 4-1.
Raul Ibanez followed by bashing a single to right that scored Utley and ended Yankees manager Joe Girardi's experiment of starting Burnett on three days' rest. Reliever David Robertson entered and got Pedro Feliz to pop up and Ruiz to ground into a run-scoring fielder's choice. The inning ended with the Phils leading, 6-1.
With Lee handed a generous lead, his pace accelerated, and he blew through Swisher, Robinson Cano and Gardner in the fourth. He worked out of a tricky situation in the fifth, after pinch-hitter Eric Hinske drew a one-out walk. Jeter moved him to third on a single, and Damon scored him with a groundout.
That brought up the powerful Teixeira, who could have reduced the Phils' lead to two with a home run. Lee induced a key pop-up instead, ending the inning. He stranded another base runner in the sixth, striking out Gardner after Cano hit a two-out single, and strengthened with a perfect seventh.
Utley's second home run came in the seventh. Ibanez added another blast in that inning, giving the Phils an 8-2 lead.
Contact staff writer Andy Martino at 215-854-4874 or amartino@phillynews.com.
