Damon at-bat inspires New York's winning burst

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A nine-pitch at-bat by New York left fielder Johnny Damon triggered a ninth-inning rally that lifted the Yankees to the brink of a 27th World Series title.

With two outs and the bases empty, Damon battled Philadelphia reliever Brad Lidge before lining a single that opened the door for a three-run burst and a 7-4 victory.

"I was one pitch away from getting out of there," Lidge said in a somber Phillies locker room on Sunday. "Damon had a tremendous at-bat. If I could have put him away it obviously would have been a pretty clean inning.

"But they did what they've been doing a lot of. Good at-bats late in the game."

The American League champion Yankees now own a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and can wrap it up with a victory in chilly Philadelphia on Monday.

Damon repeatedly fouled off pitches before getting his key hit. He then stole second and moved to third on the same play when he realized no one was covering the bag.

Ultimately, Alex Rodriguez belted a run-scoring double to break the 4-4 deadlock and Jorge Posada knocked in two more runs with a single as the stunned crowd of more than 46,000 watched the events unfold.

But the rally all started with Damon, who fell behind 1-2 in the count before getting the best of Lidge by singling in front of Phillies left-fielder Raul Ibanez.

"Fortunately I got enough of it to get it over the shortstop and not enough of it to bounce in front of Raul," Damon said.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi praised Damon for keeping the inning alive for the heart of the line-up.

"Lidge got ahead of him," he said. "He fouled some tough pitches off, and for Johnny to get on base, you know that some things can start to happen.

"Just an unbelievable at bat by Johnny Damon."

The defending champion Phillies still believe they can win three straight games and take the title.

"We have a lot of clutch guys in this lineup and we're still in it," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said.

"Nobody in here has lost hope."

(Editing by John O'Brien)