World Series: Hold the champagne …

PHILADELPHIA  - The Yankees did not lose the World Series on Monday.

They just didn’t win it.

The 8-6 loss to the Phillies in Game 5 didn’t end the series. It just extended it.
The Yankees still lead the Phillies by one game in the best-of-seven series and need one more victory to win their 27th World Series championship.

Life is still good in the Yankee Universe.

Tuesday’s day off will only delay the inevitable, Yankees catcher Jose Molina said. The series ends and the celebration begins Wednesday night in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium.
Molina made a declaration. You can say he made a guarantee.

“We are going to be at home. We are going to win and that’s it,” Molina said. “Wednesday is another game. We’ll win it and that’s what we are going to do.”

Molina’s tough talk came on a night starter A.J. Burnett failed to live up to expectation. The right-hander gave up six runs on four hits in two innings before yielding to David Robertson. Once again, Phillies starter Cliff Lee stole the show, slowing down the Yankees offense for seven innings.

Overall, Lee was charged with five runs and walked three batters. Stellar? Hardly. It was still good enough for his second victory of the World Series.

“I felt we put some better atbats on him,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. ” We hit some balls hard and we got something going and got a run in the first, and then he got a pretty big lead and we were able to get back into the game.  But I thought our guys had better atbats.  And I didn’t think he was as sharp as he didn’t throw as many strikes tonight. ”

In the Yankees clubhouse, the players seemed more concerned with getting their equipment bags on the shipping truck than putting the loss behind them. They still won two-out-of-three games at Philadelphia’s Citizen’s Bank Park so the feeling of doom and gloom was noticeably absent.

The Yankees cavalier attitude could be traced in history. They have held a 3-1 advantage in the Fall Classic on nine previous occasions, winning Game 5 six times and completing their run with a championship all nine times.

“We have to play a good game and we have to find a way to win a game,” Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. “When you look back on it, this is a tough place to play and they are real comfortable playing here. They have a great team and the bottom line is you have to play well to win.”

The Phillies will send Pedro Martinez to the mound for Game 6. The Yankees have not made an official announcement but it appears that they will counter with Andy Pettitte on short rest. Should the series reach Game 7, it’s likely the Yankees will bring back CC Sabathia, who also started Game 1 and Game 3.

You can argue the Yankees are in a good position in the final two games with their top two pitchers ready to pitch — or you can argue the exact opposite because their top two pitchers should be tired by now.

“Physically I’ve got to see how (Pettitte) is,” Girardi said. “He threw a side today and felt good.  But I’ll check with him Tuesday.”

Pettitte hasn’t pitched on short rest since 2006 and is 4-6 with a 4.15 ERA in those situations. Overall, he is 12-4 with a 3.73 ERA in the playoffs with the Yankees but only 4-4, with a 4.00 ERA in the World Series play.

The veteran has been in this position before. He had a chance to clinch a World Series title for the Yankees in 2001 against the Diamondbacks and in 2003, he pitched in Game 6 against the Marlins. He came up short both times.

The Yankees don’t seem worried.

“We’re OK,” left fielder Johnny Damon said. “Obviously, we wish we could have won  but it happens. They played a little bit better than us, but we’re fine. We understand we have a very good chance and hopefully we can take care of it.”