Pedro tries to halt Yankees’ party

NEW YORK | The 105th World Series is back at Yankee Stadium, pushed north for a sixth game and possibly past the point that the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies can cover up their flaws.

The Yankees - their series lead cut to 3-2 after an 8-6 loss to the Phillies on Monday night in which starter A.J. Burnett was gone by the third inning - must compensate for their lack of pitching depth by bringing Andy Pettitte (and possibly CC Sabathia) back on short rest to try and close out the series. The Phillies, meanwhile, blew a chance to even the series in Game 4 because the bullpen problems they’ve had all season finally surfaced in the playoffs.

So the series between baseball’s most frequent champion and its defending champion is down to a final two games in the Bronx, the winner likely to be whichever team can keep its structure intact for a couple more days.

“Yesterday, it’s a very good example of resiliency, stubbornness and desire to go out there and win,” Phillies right-hander Pedro Martinez said. “If I sit at home and I’m watching a baseball game, that’s the kind of attitude I want to see. And it wasn’t just our team. Their team did the same thing.”

It will be Martinez who’s next charged with keeping the Phillies’ season alive, facing Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte in a matchup that harks back to the Yankees-Red Sox battles in the early part of the decade.

Each one is on the mound for a different purpose. Martinez’s is to pitch deep enough into the game that the Phillies don’t have to fret about a bullpen that has gone through two closers in the last two games. The 37-year-old Pettitte’s is to turn in a quality outing on three days’ rest because the Yankees elected to stretch their rotation rather than giving a game to potential fourth starter Chad Gaudin.

That decision would force Sabathia to come back on three days’ rest for a possible Game 7 after an underwhelming performance in Game 4. Sabathia said the idea of returning on short rest isn’t nearly as big of a hurdle as reporters make it, and despite diminishing returns in Sabathia and Burnett’s last starts, it’s too late for the Yankees to change course now.

“If you’re in Philly and it’s 3-0, maybe you do something different, but we never got to that point,” manager Joe Girardi said. “So we decided to do this. Our guys felt good, and this is what we decided.”

Said Pettitte: “I really don’t think there’s that big of a difference [pitching on short rest]. I really don’t. I guess you’d probably fatigue a little bit quicker than you normally would.”

The Phillies had four starters to turn to, and it paid off on Monday night when Cliff Lee - pitching on normal rest - won for the second time in the series. But they have their own problems; when the Yankees rallied from an 8-2 deficit in the eighth inning, manager Charlie Manuel didn’t turn to embattled closer Brad Lidge, who experienced a Game 4 relapse into his regular-season struggles after a strong postseason. Instead, Manuel used setup man Ryan Madson and had Brett Myers warming up alongside Lidge if Madson couldn’t close the game.

“I think the only thing I’m trying to do with Brad Lidge is get him right,” Manuel said. “You know what, I’ll always have confidence in him. He’s got a lot of talent, and he proved that last year when he goes 48-for-48 in save situations.”

That wasn’t the only touchy subject Manuel faced Tuesday; he also had to discuss whether he would use Cole Hamels, last year’s World Series MVP, in a possible Game 7 after Hamels said he “can’t wait for [the season] to end” after Game 3.

Manuel said he had talked to Hamels and came away convinced the comments were out of fatigue after the left-hander’s disappointing year rather than an indicator Hamels had quit.

And then he said he would use Hamels in Game 7 if needed. Because at this point, it’s all about surviving.

“I’ve seen this Phillies team since, and I knew they were a very good club then. I know they’re a very good club now,” Girardi said. “I knew they were resilient. I knew they played with a lot of character and toughness. So there really hasn’t been anything that has been a surprise to me.”