The Yankees replaced Melky Cabrera on their postseason roster with Ramiro

The Yankees replaced Melky Cabrera on their postseason roster with Ramiro Peña due to his injury in Game 4, while Brett Gardner took Cabrera's place in center field . [104] A. J. Burnett, the Yankees' Game 2 starter, started Game 5 on three days rest, one less than the Phillies' Cliff Lee. [105] The Yankees scored first in the first inning, with Johnny Damon reaching base with a single and then scoring on a two-out double by Alex Rodriguez. [106] The Phillies responded in the bottom of the inning with a single by Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino reaching after being hit by a pitch , and finally a three-run home run by Chase Utley to take the lead. [106] The Phillies added to their lead in the third inning with Utley and Ryan Howard drawing walks followed by RBI singles by Jayson Werth and Raúl Ibañez. [106] With no outs in the inning, Burnett was relieved by David Robertson, who allowed another run to score on a Carlos Ruiz ground out. [106]
Robertson held the Phillies scoreless for a second inning in the fourth.[106] Jorge Posada entered as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning for José Molina and grounded out. [106] Eric Hinske then pinch hit for Robertson and walked, advanced to third on a Derek Jeter single, and scored on a ground out by Damon. [106] Alfredo Aceves entered as the new Yankee pitcher in the bottom of the fifth. [106] The first batter he faced, Jayson Werth, hit a deep drive to center field but it was caught for an out by Gardner, who collided with the outfield wall to complete the play.[106] Aceves completed the inning without a run scoring, inducing ground outs from Ibáñez and Ruiz.[106] Phil Coke relieved Aceves in the seventh inning and allowed two Phillies players to tie World Series records. [106] First, Utley tied Reggie Jackson 's record for most home runs in a World Series with a home run, his fifth of the series.[107] Coke then struck out Howard, Howard's 12th strikeout in the series, tying Willie Wilson's record for most strikeouts in a World Series. [108] Finally, Coke was driven from the game after allowing another home run, this time to Ibáñez, and was relieved by Phil Hughes. [106]
Victorino was replaced defensively in the eighth inning by Ben Francisco. [106] Lee was driven from the game after allowing a single to Damon, followed by a double by Mark Teixeira, and then a double by Rodriguez that scored both runners.[106] Chan Ho Park relieved Lee and induced a ground out from Nick Swisher, which advanced Rodriguez to third base. Rodriguez scored on a sacrifice fly by
Robinson Canó. [106] Ryan Madson entered in the ninth to close the game, allowing a double to Posada and a single to Hideki Matsui without recording an out. [106] Batting with men on first and third base, Jeter grounded into a double play, allowing Posada to score but emptying the bases. [106] Damon singled to bring Teixeira to bat as the potential tying run, but Madson struck him out to record his first World Series save . [106] Members of the news media, such as
Gene Wojciechowski, were critical of the three-man starting rotation strategy following Game 3, [48] and contended that Burnett's poor performance was caused by insufficient rest in between starts. [109] However, Burnett had been successful up to this point in such situations, going 4–0 with a 2.33 ERA in four career starts on short rest (less than the normal four days between starts) before this game. [110]
Game 6
Yankees designated hitter Hideki Matsui, pictured here in the 2007 regular season, tied a World Series record for most RBIs in a single game and won the World Series MVP award.