Yankees bounce back to level World Series

A.J. Burnett humbled Philadelphia's finest batters while Hideki Matsui and Mark Teixiera each blasted home runs to lead the New York Yankees past the Phillies 3-1 and level the World Series.

The four top hitters for the reigning World Series champions went 0-for-10 against Burnett, with Phillies slugger Ryan Howard striking out three times, as the Yankees deadlocked Major League Baseball's best-of-seven final at 1-1 on Thursday. Related article: Yankees' initial win

"I wanted to come out and attack, feed off the crowd and the energy," said Burnett. "I've done a good job of being calm in situations but I wanted to come out with some fire."

Burnett struck out nine and scattered four hits in seven innings for his first playoff triumph, the 32-year-old right-hander having the fourth-longest career wait among active starting pitchers just to reach the playoffs.

"I knew it was a big game, the biggest I've ever thrown in for this team," he said. "I wanted to set the tone early, be very aggressive. I threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. It made a big difference. I went out with confidence and the game just rolled by."

Teixiera, mired in a .186 playoff batting slump, hit a solo homer off Pedro Martinez in the fourth inning to pull New York even and Japan's Matsui blasted a sixth-inning homer to give the Yankees 2-1 lead.

"It was pretty special, this one," Teixiera said. "We hadn't done anything against them. It put a little bit of a crack in their armour. They had pitched so well. And Matsui's home run was great for our confidence."

"Matsui's home run was huge," echoed Yankee manager Joe Girardi. "It was the first lead we had in the Series and it allows you to set up your bullpen the way you want."

Jorge Posada singled in Jerry Hairston with an insurance run in the seventh inning and ace closing reliever Mariano Rivera threw 39 pitches, his most in a Series appearance, to obtain the last six outs for his record 10th Series save.

The scene now shifts to Philadelphia for games three through five starting Saturday, when Yankee star Andy Pettitte, a four-time Series champion, is set to face fellow southpaw Cole Hamels, last year's Series Most Valuable Player.

"It was a must-win for us," Teixiera said. "If we went in there 0-2 it would have been a tough road for us."

The Yankees have won 26 titles in 40 World Series appearances, both marks more than twice as many as their nearest rival, but have not captured the crown since 2000 despite baseball's biggest payroll - 201 million dollars this year.

Philadelphia opened the scoring in the second inning when Raul Ibanez doubled off the left-field line and scored on a Matt Stairs single, but Martinez, a long-time Yankee nemesis with Boston, could not hold the lead. Related article: Martinez taunted by Yankee fans

"Pedro got hurt by the long ball," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "It was a heck of a game. We just couldn't pull it out."

The 38-year-old Dominican right-hander struck out eight in just over six innings of work, extending Yankee playoff star Alex Rodriguez's debut World Series slump to 0-for-8 with three strikeouts for the second night in a row.

"The first couple (playoff) series, Alex carried the entire offense," said Teixeira said. "He hasn't gotten any hits but I'm going to bet Alex is going to be fine the rest of this Series.

"If not, hopefully me or a couple other guys are going to step it up."

Teixiera caught a high Martinez change-up well and Matsui belted his eighth US career playoff homer into the right-field stands.

"I gave everything I had," Martinez said. "When I made a couple of mistakes I paid for them. Teixiera's home run was a good one. I tip my hat to him.

"Matsui, I was disappointed. The pitch wasn't the one I would have chosen if I had to think again. I was in a groove and flipped a curve ball in there and paid for it."

Hairston, playing for New York in place of Nick Swisher due to a superior batting average (10-for-27) against Martinez, singled to open the seventh and took third on Melky Cabrera's single to end Martinez's night.

Reliever Park Chan Ho, only the second South Korean to play in the World Series, entered for Philadelphia and gave up a single to pinch-hitter Posada that brought Hairston home for the last run.

Philadelphia's Chase Utley stretched his record playoff streak of reaching base to 27 games when Burnett intentionally walked him in the third but grounded into a double play in the eighth to kill a possible Phillies rally.