PHILADELPHIA — The best team in the universe went Williamsport.
That’s the easiest way to explain how the Yankees won 7-4 Sunday night, shoving the Phillies to the brink of elimination.
In the ninth inning, Colorado native Brad Lidge became the victim of a play that is more common in Little League than the big leagues. With two out, the Yankees’ Johnny Damon swiped second base, then kept going. The Phillies had the shift on for Mark Teixeira, so there was no infielder on the left side of the field. Damon advanced to third for two stolen bases in one play as Lidge was late covering.
From that moment, Lidge never regained his composure. Alex Rodriguez smashed an RBI double to left and Jorge Posada drove in two more runs as the Yankees turned a Philadelphia celebration into a funeral procession.
The Yanks are one win away from their first championship since 2000.
The Phillies fell behind 4-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, then started a comeback. Chase Utley took a pitch from Yankees starter CC Sabathia into the right-field seats to cut the deficit to 4-3, then Pedro Feliz ripped a homer off Joba Chamberlain in the eighth to tie the game. But that just set the stage for the Yanks’ rally.
