The Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com
Monday, November 2nd 2009, 4:00 AM
PHILADELPHIA - The night started to come to Alex Rodriguez now, Game 4 started to come to him at Citizens Bank Park, Game 4 and the World Series and this chance for him to be Mr. November for the Yankees. October had ended for him with a home run against Cole Hamels in Game 3, and Game 4 was about to come down to him against Brad Lidge, another Series hero for the Phillies one year ago. That was against the Rays. This was the Yankees.
Keivom/News
Alex Rodriguez hits RBI double in ninth inning off Brad Lidge that gives Yankees the lead for good and leaves Bombers one victory from capturing their 27th world title.
But first Johnny Damon had to steal second with two outs, Damon had to get to second and then keep going to third when he saw no one was there because of the Phillies' shift against Mark Teixeira. That is how Damon started carrying the night to A-Rod, who has been carrying the Yankees for a month.
"What were you doing going to third?" Damon was asked in the Yankee clubhouse.
Johnny Damon smiled and said, "Trying to keep (Lidge) from throwing a slider."
He meant that he wanted fastballs for Teixeira and fastballs for A-Rod if it came to that. Damon has always played the game tough. But he has played it smart, too.
The Phillies had tied the Yankees 4-4 on a Pedro Feliz home run off Joba Chamberlain in the eighth. But that was the eighth. This was the ninth. The Yankees have had a lot of ninth inning in them all year long, as much ninth inning in them as a baseball team can have. Now they had one more in them, on the first of November, trying to get within a win of winning the World Series.
"We battle," Damon said.
He battled Lidge through a long at-bat and then ended up on third on a play that will go into Yankee legend with any baserunning play they've ever had if they win this World Series. Lidge hit Teixeira, even though Teixeira was hitting .071 for the Series. So Game 4 had come to Alex Rodriguez now, the World Series had come back to him. Damon knew what Lidge knew, that if Lidge threw one of his nasty sliders - one of his out-pitch sliders - in the dirt, Damon was coming home with the run that would put the Yankees back up by one in Game 4.
Lidge threw a fastball past Rodriguez for strike one.
"But then he threw him another," Damon said.
"I've never had a bigger hit," Rodriguez would say afterward.
Rodriguez knew what to do with it, hit it on a line toward the left-field corner, hit the Phillies again, hit them the way he had when he hit the two-run homer off Hamels the night before, hit the Phillies in the World Series the way he had hit the Twins and the Angels. Damon scored and Teixeira went to third and Rodriguez came flying into second. After the biggest October of his life, the first great October of his life, now he really was Mr. November.
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