PHILADELPHIA — Behind a barrage of power and timely hits from Johnny Damon and Andy Pettitte, of all people, the Yankees overwhelmed Cole Hamels and the Phillies on Saturday night, 8-5, in Game 3 and seized a two-games-to-one advantage in the World Series.
The Phillies led by 3-0, but the Yankees surged with home runs by Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Hideki Matsui. Rodriguez’s homer in the fourth inning was initially ruled a double, but replays showed it hit a television camera over the wall in the right-field corner.
The umpires conferred and then, making the first use of the video replay system in the World Series, changed the call to a home run.
The Yankees scored three times in the fifth inning to take the lead for good. Pettitte hit a run-scoring single off a curveball from Hamels, and then Damon stroked a two-run double into the gap in right-center to make the score 5-3.
Jayson Werth hit two home runs for the Phillies, and Carlos Ruiz added one in the ninth off Phil Hughes, but the cleanup hitter Ryan Howard continued to struggle. He went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He has nine strikeouts in the first three games. The Phillies’ No. 3 hitter, Chase Utley, also went 0 for 4, with two strikeouts.
Hamels’s postseason difficulties also continued as he allowed five runs in four and a third innings.
Hughes got one out in the ninth but after he gave up the home run to Ruiz, Joe Girardi called upon Mariano Rivera, who needed just five pitches to secure the final two outs.
This article written by the following: Times reporters David Waldstein, Tyler Kepner, Ben Shpigel, Jack Curry, William C. Rhoden and Richard Sandomir provided updates and analysis during Game 3 of the Yankees-Phillies World Series in Philadelphia. http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/live-analysis-world-series-game-3-yankees-at-phillies/
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