Philadelphia's Pedro Feliz lined a full-count fastball from Joba Chamberlain (1-0) over the wall in left field with two outs in the eighth to tie the game, but the Yankees rallied in the ninth off Brad Lidge to grab a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Jorge Posada drove in three runs, including a two-run single to cap the top of the ninth.

Mariano Rivera set the side down in order in the bottom of the ninth for the save and broke the World Series record with his 23rd appearance, passing ex- Yankee Whitey Ford. It was his 39th career postseason save and the latest one provided a near-knockout blow for the defending World Series champions. It also put the Yankees a victory away from their first title since 2000.

"It feels good, but again, we've been down this road before, and we have to stay very focused," said Rodriguez. "Those guys are the world champs. They're going to come out fighting, and so are we, so just staying in the moment."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi announced Sunday afternoon that he's decided to start A.J. Burnett on three days' rest for Monday's Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies will start lefty Cliff Lee, who has sparkled with a 3-0 mark and a 0.54 ERA (two earned runs, 33 1/3 innings) this postseason. Lee threw a complete game to win Game 1, while Burnett threw seven solid innings in a 3-1 Game 2 triumph.

"I've waited a long time for it, and I'm going to take it full stride," said Burnett. "I'm going to go out there with everything I've got, and you take nothing for granted. I've seen some crazy things this postseason, and I guess that's why they call it post-season baseball, because anything can happen."

Lidge (0-1) retired the first two batters of the inning on a pop-up from pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui and a strikeout from Derek Jeter. On a nine-pitch at-bat, Johnny Damon then singled to left-center field.

The Phillies then put an infield shift toward the right side of the diamond with Mark Teixeira at the plate, but the move backfired. Damon stole second with third baseman Feliz taking the throw from catcher Carlos Ruiz. Nobody covered third, and Damon raced all the way to the base.

In the end, Blanton retired 11 straight hitters until trouble found the right-hander in the fifth. Nick Swisher walked on four pitches and Melky Cabrera legged out an infield single up the middle. After Sabathia struck out, Jeter hit a bouncer under the glove of a diving Jimmy Rollins at shortstop, giving New York a 3-2 edge. Damon followed with an RBI hit to right field.

Sabathia wiggled out of a two-on, no-out jam in the bottom of the fifth, but surrendered Utley's homer to right with two down in the seventh.

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