Holy. Cow.

The New York Yankees learned a valuable lesson last night: Don't hit Shane Victorino. After Cliff Lee had a forgettable first inning to put the Phillies behind 1-0, the front four of the Philadelphia lineup all got on base, including Chase Utley with a three-run blast to give the Fightin Phils the lead. The short-rested AJ Burnett put Victorino on the ground just minutes before Utley's blast, and Yanks' manager Joe Girardi argued that Victorino had swatted at the ball. Utley didn't take kindly to the suggestion, and he deposited the first pitch he saw from Pettitte into the rightfield stands.

At that moment, it all seemed possible. The Phillies had Cliff Lee on the mound, and he wasn't going to blow a lead for them. They could head back to New York needing just two more wins, and there would be a real shot at successfully defending their crown. Unfortunately, they got a little ahead of themselves. Up by six runs going into the top of the eighth inning, Cliff Lee started to falter. A single by Damon and doubles by Teixiera and A-Rod cut the Phillies' lead to four and knocked Lee out of the game. Chan Ho Park did a solid job in relief, allowing just one more run to cross the plate and getting all three outs.

Then came panic time for Philadelphia fans, who wondered if Brad Lidge would be strolling out to save the game. Instead, Ryan Madson took the hill, gave up a couple of quick hits, and forced Derek Jeter to ground into a double play. Philly's lead was down to two, but Madson managed to strike Teixiera out swinging to end the game. Holy crap, the Phillies forced a game six.

Now, I'm not saying that the Phillies are the equivalent of the 2004 Boston Red Sox; they are certainly far from it. But with their backs to the wall, they have a pretty good shot at this thing. We've already seen how well AJ Burnett did on short rest (2 IP, 6 ER,) and the Yankees are going to put another short-rested pitcher on the mound in Andy Pettitte. Let's be honest here, Pettitte looked hittable in Game Three, and that was on full rest. Pedro on full rest versus Pettitte on short rest should favor the Phillies. Also, if the Phillies' bats can come alive like they finally did in Game 5, they should be in extremely good shape.

The question for Game 6 will be the bullpen: How long do you leave Pedro in? Who closes in a save situation? Park has looked very good in relief, and the Phils have Durbin and Myers as strong late-inning options. Alright, scratch my original question. What the heck do they do with Lidge? My opinion is that he can do it, but they better have a sizeable lead for him to work with. Anything the hitters can do to keep Rivera and Lidge out of the game would be huge. I am excited. Oh, so very, very excited.

FORCE GAME SEVEN.