PHILADELPHIA -- Maybe this is just a one-night mirage, a short delay before the inevitable Yankees championship. That part of the story is yet to be written, and could still be the narrative of one of the best World Series in recent memory.
The part we know is the part a sellout crowd here at Citizens Bank Park finally got to see, their Phillies beating the powerhouse Yankees 8-6 in game five on Monday, cutting the Yanks' lead to three games to two.
"This isn't a yo-yoing club," said Ryan Madson, the Phillies reliever who got the last three outs. "We're pretty confident, pretty calm. We went out there like we were up 3-1 in the series."
Whether that's delusion or confidence, it doesn't matter now, not for the next two days when the baseball world analyzes how the Phillies overcame more of their own mistakes and at least a temporary demotion of Brad Lidge while finally winning a game here at home.
This one had the requisite stress, with the Yankees carving a six-run deficit in half with Derek Jeter batting with two on and no outs in the ninth, but Madson got him to ground into a double play. After that, the party was on.
Even with the Phillies trailing, this is turning into the Series of Chase Utley. His three-run homer in the first inning put the hometown fans at ease, and his solo shot in the seventh put them into party mode. He walked and stole a base in between, showing baseball's biggest audience why he's one of the world's best players.
He joins former Royal Willie Aikens as the only players with two multi-home run games in one World Series, and his five total homers ties Reggie Jackson's series record set in 1977.
"I don't want to embarrass him or nothing like that," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said, "but sometimes I tell our players, 'Just play with Chase.' "
Cliff Lee was less than his previously dominating self, the five runs surrendered knocking him off what was previously one of the better individual performances in playoff history.
"I don't think my command was as good as it has been," Lee said. "It was a little off. It was a game where I had to battle a little more than I had to the last few games. Thankfully, we scored a lot of runs."
The Phillies talked and talked about their guts and resiliency and never-quit attitude, so_with clips from "Rocky" often playing between innings_it was important for them to at least push the series back to New York.
Otherwise, it would have meant the defending champions losing four straight, including three at home.
This one leaned Philly from their first at-bat, a welcome sighting from the National League's best offense after scoring just 10 runs the previous three games.
Philly's first four batters reached base against A.J. Burnett and his three days' rest, including the three-run homer into the right field seats by Utley on a fastball over the meaty part of the plate.
The Phillies again put their first four hitters on base in the third inning, as Burnett clearly struggled with his command. This time, Yankees manager Joe Girardi pulled Burnett for David Robertson, but it was too late to matter.
"No, I don't think there was any correlation (between Burnett's struggles and the short rest)," Girardi said. "He just lacked command tonight, similar to what he did in Anaheim. But he was able to recover better there. Tonight he just wasn't able to get it going."
Burnett gave up two runs on singles by Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez, and was charged with another after he left. Burnett's struggles are interesting in that the Yankees will most likely start Andy Pettitte on three days' rest in game six.
It's a calculated risk by Girardi, figuring that even a 37-year-old on short rest who had shoulder issues in September is a better option than leading alternative Chad Gaudin.
Tuesday's travel day gives two full news cycles to digest those and other questions that may not end up being all that important if the Yankees continue their pattern of winning the games that Lee doesn't start.
"What's that old saying, 'Spahn and Sain, pray for rain?' " Manuel said. "Got an off-day, maybe it'll rain the next day (and) I can get him in on three days like you guys are talking about."
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