NEW YORK - The seventh inning had not yet concluded when the slender righthander arose. The Phillies had to have noticed, their dugout positioned directly across the field from the home bullpen at Yankee Stadium. They had spent the first 6 innings flailing unproductively at a devastating combination of mid-90s fastballs and tight curveballs unleashed by high-priced righthander A.J. Burnett. And with the Yankees yet to bat in the seventh, they had to contend with one of the most unsettling sights in the history of postseason baseball: Mariano Rivera warming in the bullpen.
Two nights after Cliff Lee hurled them to a Game 1 victory, the Phillies found themselves walking in another pair of moccasins, on a road that now heads back to Philadelphia with the World Series tied at one game a piece.
The final score was 3-1, but by the time Matt Stairs struck out to end the ninth inning, the two-run deficit looked a whole lot larger. The primary reason was Burnett, an electric yet inconsistent righthander who had allowed twice as many runs in his most recent postseason outing (six), as he had in his first two combined.
A former Marlins blue-chipper who later pitched for the Blue Jays before signing a 5-year, $82.5 million contract in the offseason, the Phillies have faced him 17 times over the past 10 years, and they have seen him both at his best and at his worst.
Tonight, Burnett was very much the former, locating both his blazing fastball and his low-80s curveball on the corners of the plate as the Phillies tried in vain to make solid contact.
There are nights when Burnett will beat himself, when he will lose control and walk batters and leave fastballs gliding over the big part of the plate. Last night was not one of them, and on the precious few opportunities he provided, the Phillies failed to muster much substance.
Stairs, in his first at-bat since Game 4 of the NLCS, hit an RBI single with two out in the second inning to give them an early 1-0. But it was the only offense they would find. They stranded runners on first and second in the third inning, and Jayson Werth squandered a leadoff single in the fourth when Yankees catcher Jose Molina caught him lingering off first base following a pitch to Raul Ibanez.
But after Werth's single, Burnett retired 11 of the next 12 batters he then turned the game over to Rivera, who pitched the eighth and ninth innings to improve his postseason record save total to 38.
Nevertheless, for six innings, veteran righthander Pedro Martinez kept the Phillies within striking distance. Serenaded by chants of "Who's Your Daddy" from the sellout crowd, an homage to his younger days in Boston when he famously labeled the Yankees his father after a rough outing, Martinez battled his way through the first half of the game, finishing the fifth inning with 83 pitches yet holding New York to a Mark Teixeira solo home run in the fourth.
It was at that point that Manuel seemed to commit to milking as much out of Martinez as he could, a decision many felt he should have made during Game 2 of the NLCS, when he removed his starter despite having only thrown 87 pitches in seven scoreless innings. That day, the Dodgers rallied against the Phillies bullpen - and a shaky defense - to win. Tonight, the Yankees rallied against Martinez.
After striking out Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez to start the sixth inning, he allowed a home run to Hideki Matsui on a 1-2 curveball that cracked the tie and gave New York a 2-1 lead.
Nevertheless, Manuel sent Martinez back to the mound for the seventh inning with 99 pitches. He didn't last long, allowing singles to Jerry Hairston and Melky Cabrera to put runners at the corners with no out.
Chan Ho Park and Scott Eyre contained the damage to an RBI single by pinch-hitter Jorge Posada, aided by another controversial ruling by major league umpires, who ruled that Ryan Howard had caught a low worm-burner off the bat of Johnny Damon and doubled off Posada with a throw to second to end the inning. Television replays suggest the ball bounced just before reaching Howard's glove, and the first baseman's reaction - to throw to second - suggests likewise. Nevertheless, Rivera rendered any potential debate moot. Jimmy Rollins drew a walk and Shane Victorino hit a single to put runners on first and second with one out in the eighth, but Chase Utley grounded into a double play to end the threat. In the ninth, Rivera allowed a two-out double to Raul Ibanez, but struck Stairs out swinging to nail down the save.
With that, any fantasy of stealing two games at Yankee Stadium disappeared. The Phillies still like their position in this World Series - it mirrors their start last year, when they won Game 1 and then lost Game 2 at Tampa Bay - and are thrilled to be heading back to Citizens Bank Park with a series split.
But they know that their quest to repeat will be aided greatly by solving two riddles, both of which took the mound in pinstripes tonight.
Video: Inquirer's Bob Ford debates the Series
