Yankees enjoy position of power after Game 3 win

PHILADELPHIA -- Talk about going from zero to 60 mph in an instant. The Yankees punched the gas in Game 3 of the World Series and it took them forever to even realize it.

Andy Pettitte had nothing. His location was miserable. His command of his breaking ball was worse. And his running, well, let's not even talk about that.

Yet Philadelphia still managed to squander a three-run lead, the Yankees still managed to overcome the Pettitte Pinstripe Blues and in the end, following their 8-5 Halloween pummeling of Cole Hamels and the Phillies, the Yankees could not be in better shape.

Or have you eaten so much candy corn that you think the Game 4 pitching matchup between CC Sabathia and Joe Blanton doesn't move this World Series right now squarely in the Yankees' favor?

Yes, Sabathia is pitching on three days' rest again. But we all know, the guy takes to that the way Michael Phelps takes to water.

Big deal with the Big Man on the mound for Game 4, correct?

"They're all pivotal," outfielder Johnny Damon was saying. "Especially when you come into a tough environment like Philadelphia that has great fans who back their team."

Yeah, yeah, yeah, go dip into more of that candy corn, Johnny.

They're all pivotal, and there's no guarantee that Sabathia wins Game 4. But until he proves otherwise ... to go from Pettitte floundering like a caught fish flopping on a dock to a victory and Sabathia next up on the hill? That's even better than the extra hour's sleep overnight Saturday.

Besides, if this was such a tough environment, the Phillies would have snuffed the life out of the Yankees when they had the chance in the second inning Saturday night.

Then, their fans would have spent the rest of the game taunting Alex Rodriguez with the classic chant, "You took steroids! You took steroids!"

Instead, Rodriguez smashed the first instant replay-overturned home run in World Series history in the fourth inning to trim Philadelphia's lead to 3-2. And the taunts barely lasted longer than Philadelphia's lead.

Here was where the Phillies allowed Pettitte to escape, setting the stage for A-Rod, a Nick Swisher comeback (double, homer, two runs scored) and a Hideki Matsui pinch-hit homer to knock the wind out of them:

Second inning, bases loaded and the Phillies ahead 2-0 after Pettitte issued a bases-loaded walk to leadoff man Jimmy Rollins.

Up next, with Pettitte wobbling badly, Shane Victorino inexplicably hacked at the first two pitches he saw ... cutters in the dirt.

Oh, sure, he popped the third pitch into left field for a sacrifice fly to score the Phillies' third run.

But bases loaded, one out, the pitcher has just walked the leadoff man on a 3 and 1 count to force home the second run of the inning ... and you immediately swing at two pitches in the dirt?

What kind of baseball is that?

It's not the kind world champions play, I'll tell you that.

"He chased two bad balls," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said when I asked him about it later. "If you're going to swing there, you've got to swing at strikes.

"If he gets a fastball in the middle of the plate, he's swinging. But he should have been looking for a fastball in the middle of the plate like it was a 3 and 0 count."

Instead, he didn't. He made the second out of the inning. And then Pettitte struck out lefty Chase Utley on a called third strike.

It was like handing a man struggling to breathe an oxygen tank.

A-Rod and the Yanks appear to have a strong grasp on the series. (Getty Images)

"Cutters," Yankees catcher Jorge Posada said of the first two pitches to Victorino. "He went to his bread and butter."

Was Posada surprised that Victorino swung wildly in that situation?

"I just call the pitches," he said, smiling.

A-Rod's shot off of the television camera behind the right-field fence -- thus, the cause of the review, it initially was ruled a double as the umpires thought the ball banged off of the fence instead of the camera -- came two innings later.

It was so predictable. Controversy always finds this guy. Do you know who the first test case was when baseball instituted instant replay on tough home run calls in 2008? A-Rod, that's who. In Tampa Bay. And replays showed that one, too, was a home run.

"It's only fitting, right?" Rodriguez said. "I don't know if that's controversy with the replay. There is no controversy, so they had a good chance to see it in New York or wherever the headmaster is. I'm just glad we got a good ruling."

The headmaster?

Then, in the fifth, came another key moment for the Yankees, one which they were still talking about after the game: With one out and Swisher on second following his leadoff double, Pettitte banged an RBI single to center against Hamels.

Which produced the most entertaining statistic of the night.

Career World Series hits: Andy Pettitte 2, Alex Rodriguez 1.

"We were excited," Damon said. "He got his RBI before I did in the World Series.

"That kind of makes you feel like you're no good, or like you really need to get a hit."

Said Derek Jeter: "He's always bragging about his hitting."

And, Jeter again: "The key was Andy's hit. That was huge."

Pettitte's RBI tied the score.

Then, two batters later, Pettitte scored the go-ahead run.

And, yes, here's where we need to discuss the guy's running.

Two out, Pettitte on second and Jeter on first and Damon, feeling like he really needed to get that hit, cracked a double to right. During the mad dash home, as Pettitte chugged toward the plate, despite his 90-feet head start, Jeter was right on his heels.

"I could have caught him," Jeter said, chuckling. "But it would have been embarrassing.

"What can you say? He pitched, he hit, he did everything today."

Everything, that is, except set a world speed record on the base paths.

"First of all, I have no wheels at all," Pettitte said. "I know that. I am very slow. I mean, very slow. And the first thing Derek said was, 'I almost caught you.' ...

"I'm not going to lie to you guys, I was gassed tonight. I mean, I was gassed running around the bases. Then the next inning I had to cover first, and that gassed my legs even more. It was a rough night for me.

"Just like I said, I was just very thankful I was able to give us a decent start and I was able to get us a win here."

The Phillies could see Pettitte was gassed, they knew he was searching. But they were unable to do anything about it.

"He throws strikes, and he uses your aggressiveness against you," Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said.

That's exactly what he did with Victorino in the second, back when the game could have veered hard in the Phillies' direction, instead of away from them.

And now, here comes Sabathia. And maybe Game 4 isn't must-win for the Phillies. But after a missed opportunity in Game 3, it's sure getting there.