Phillies Top 5: Highest-Scoring Games vs. Girardi, Yankees
3: November 2, 2009: World Series Game 5 — Phillies 8, Yankees 6 (Home)
- Winning Pitcher: Cliff Lee
- Losing Pitcher: A.J. Burnett
- Phillies Total Hits: 9
- Yankees Total Hits: 10
- Phillies Total Errors: 0
- Yankees Total Errors: 0
Down 3-1 in the series, the Phillies had to win Game 5 in order to prevent the Yankees from hoisting their 27th World Series championship trophy on their own turf.
They did just that, but it wasn’t pretty.
After leading 8-2, the Yankees trimmed their six-run deficit in half in the eighth, and would score again in the ninth to pull within two. Mark Teixeira striking out, as the tying run, handed the Phillies their second win of the series. Brad Lidge was unavailable after struggling in the ninth in Game 4, as Charlie Manuel said he wanted to give his closer a break, if he could.
Second baseman Chase Utley went yard twice, raising his World Series total to a then-record-tying five. His first that game was a go-ahead, three-run home run opposite right-hander A.J. Burnett. Utley’s seventh inning solo home run tied him with Reggie Jackson as the only players to hit five home runs in a single World Series. Eight years later, eventual 2017 World Series MVP George Springer, with the Houston Astros, matched Utley’s and Jackson’s feats.
Both starting pitchers, coincidentally, were Arkansas natives. The Phillies’ Cliff Lee yielded five runs and seven hits spanning seven-plus innings, improving to 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA over five starts that postseason. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez produced a RBI double and two-run double in the first and eighth innings, respectively, against the southpaw.
The Phillies would fall in Game 6 behind eventual Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez at Yankee Stadium, falling short of a third-ever World Series championship. With the Yankees’ eventual win, the organization improved to 9-0 in the World Series when taking a 3-1 lead. The Phillies have not returned to the Fall Classic since.