Plenty of fight left in the Phils

PHILADELPHIA -- Move over Reggie. Here comes Chase.

The Phillies may not win the 2009 World Series, but they made the Yankees share a cherished page in the record books last night at Citizens Bank Park when Chase Utley hit two more homers in do-or-die Game 5.

Utley's seventh-inning solo blast off former Trenton Thunder pitcher Phil Coke allowed him to join Reggie Jackson (1977) as the only players to hit five in a series. The blast, coupled with Utley's three-run shot in the first off starter and losing pitcher A.J. Burnett, gave Cliff Lee just enough cushion, 8-6, as the Phils won their final home game of the 2009 season and cut the Yankees' lead in the best-of-seven series to three games to two.

Despite falling behind 8-2 in the seventh on Utley's homer and one by Raul Ibanez, the Yankees didn't die and even brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth. But Ryan Madson fanned Mark Teixeira to keep the Phils' hopes alive for a second consecutive world championship.

The Yankees will try again to clinch their 27th world championship tomorrow night when the series moves back to the Bronx. Andy Pettitte is the likely starter for the Yankees with Pedro Martinez probably going for the Phils.

The Phils have never come back from a 3-1 deficit in a postseason series and the Yankees are 8-0 when leading three games to one in past World Series.

Utley's outburst was needed as Lee (2-0 in the series and 4-0 this postseason) finally showed signs of fatigue after a four-start run that saw him put up a microscopic 0.54 ERA. After allowing only two earned runs in those games, Lee yielded five runs on seven hits in seven-plus innings.

Fortunately for the Phils, Burnett (1-1) was worse, allowing six earned runs in two-plus innings and only lasting 53 pitches.

The Yankees set the offensive tone of the night in the first with a Johnny Damon single (one of his three hits) and an RBI double by Alex Rodriguez. The RBI was A-Rod's 16th of the postseason, a Yankees record.

Eight pitches into the bottom of the first, the Phils took control of the game.

After Jimmy Rollins (two hits) earned a free pass, Shane Victorino was hit on the hand while trying to bunt. Utley then turned around a 94 mile-per-hour fastball, parking it in the right-field seats and the Phils were up 3-1.

They added three more on RBI singles by Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez and groundout by Carlos Ruiz, but the Yanks cut it to 6-2 on a Damon groundout in the fifth.

That's when Utley joined Willie Mays Aikens (1980, Kansas City Royals) as the only players to homer twice in two separate World Series games in the same year. It turned out to be important as the Yanks scored three in the eighth and one in the ninth before Madson got Jeter to hit into a double play and fanned Teixeira to conclude the most exciting game of this Turnpike set.

Contact Barry Federovitch at bfederovitch@njtimes.com.