Community | November 03, 2009 | 3 comments

Phillies Send Series Back to the Bronx

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PHILADELPHIA — The championship was in the Yankees’ grasp on Monday night, and a reminder loomed over their heads at Citizens Bank Park before Game 5 of the World Series. As they lounged in their clubhouse, rolls of protective plastic wrap hung above their lockers.

As party planners, the Yankees were prepared for a celebration. But the Philadelphia Phillies did not let it happen. They overwhelmed A. J. Burnett and survived a late Yankees charge for an 8-6 victory, sending the World Series back to the Bronx for Game 6 on Wednesday.

Cliff Lee won and Chase Utley homered twice, exactly the formula the Phillies had used to win Game 1 at Yankee Stadium. Lee pitched nine innings that night, though, and he could not get an out in the eighth on Monday.

That was a problem for the Phillies, who entrusted a three-run lead to Ryan Madson, not Brad Lidge, who had allowed three runs in the ninth to lose Game 4.

Jorge Posada greeted Madson with a double off the right-field wall, and Hideki Matsui singled to left. Derek Jeter came up as the tying run and Madson fell behind, 2-1, before inducing a double-play grounder to short. A run scored, but the Phillies happily took the trade-off.

Johnny Damon fell behind, 0-2, then fouled off two pitches and ran the count to 2-2. He singled up the middle, bringing Mark Teixeira to the plate. A home run would have tied it, but Madson struck out Teixeira on a changeup. Teixeira is 2 for 19 in the World Series.

The Phillies had twice before faced a fifth game at home with the visitors trying to clinch. In 1993, they held off elimination when Curt Schilling shut out against Toronto. Ten years earlier, they were blanked by the Baltimore Orioles’ Scott McGregor.

That World Series began on the same path as this one. The 1983 Phillies won Game 1 on the road, lost Game 2, then dropped three at home to end their season. These Phillies, at least, will not go down so ingloriously.

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Woot! Go Phillies!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/sports/baseball/03series.html
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