“You did awesome,’’ one said.

It was hard to think anything else. He had done awesome, striking out nine - including Ryan Howard three times - as he chases a real World Series ring.

He has one already, a ring from a takedown of the Yankees back in 2003. But that was hardly his. It belonged to the other Marlins, the ones who had beaten the Yankees as he sat out the games, felled by Tommy John surgery.

It was hardly the scenario he had envisioned.

So he took the money, and the chance of a trip to another World Series, when he signed with New York in the offseason. He thought he might have a chance at a second try, an opportunity to actually contribute this time. He did that last night, as the Yankees evened the Series at one game apiece with a 3-1 win over the Phillies at Yankee Stadium.

“It makes it all better. It means a lot,’’ Burnett said, of missing out in his first trip. “After [Wednesday night], I just wanted to come out and set the tone early and be very aggressive. My key was strike one tonight. I threw a lot of first-pitch strikes and that allowed me to open up and expand the zone after that.’’

Over his seven innings, Burnett did exactly what he doesn’t usually do, starting 22 of the 26 batters he faced with a strike - including the first 11 batters before an intentional walk to Chase Utley in the third. It signaled that Burnett doesn’t have to falter under pressure, that he can clean up after CC Sabathia.

He had watched Cliff Lee’s interview after the first game, after Lee had made the Yankees look bad. He had heard what Lee said about confidence, about belief in his stuff, and Burnett had used that in pitching last night.

“I knew it was a big game,’’ Burnett said. “It’s no lie. It was the biggest game I’ve ever thrown in for this team. But at the same time you can’t let that affect you, and I tried not to let it affect me.’’

The game also signaled that perhaps this might be the first competitive World Series - that is, the first World Series to go beyond five games - since the Yankees lost out to Burnett’s Marlins in six games in 2003.

Asked if he was content with a split and a trip back to Philadelphia, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said, “I guess I’m going to have to be. I always like to be 2-0 over 1-1. But it is what it is. I’ve got to accept it. Like you said, we’re going home.’’

They are going home with home-field advantage, earned when they won Game 1. But they are going home having been shut down by Burnett in Game 2.

“He was outstanding,’’ Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. “He was hitting his spots all night. I can’t remember him missing a spot.

“In my opinion, this is probably the best he’s pitched all year.’’

Even so, the Phillies went up by a run in the second when Raul Ibanez (double) scored on a single by Matt Stairs that had gone right by Alex Rodriguez’s glove.

Pedro Martinez looked particularly sharp, though the Philadelphia starter would later admit that he had not felt well in the previous days. Still, Martinez allowed six hits and three runs over six-plus innings with eight strikeouts.

The Yankees were still down at the start of the fourth inning, perhaps lulled by a somnambulant crowd of 50,181, which apparently forgot it was attending a World Series game. That changed, though, when Jose Molina made a throw to first base.

With Jayson Werth on after a single to right, Ibanez was batting when Molina took the third pitch and fired to Mark Teixeira. Molina caught Werth too far off the base. Life returned to the Stadium, finally.

“I saw from the first pitch on that he was taking a big lead,’’ Molina said. “I saw the ball in the dirt, I pick it up. He is still out there, he is still far from the bag. So I just threw it. Just flipped it there, see what happened. Maybe he’d shorten his lead up for the next time, ground ball double play or something. But I got lucky and he was too far off the bag.’’

And the life continued, as the ball off Teixeira’s bat flew out to open the next inning, on the second offering from Martinez. The home run, which dropped into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center, was only the Yankees’ second hit.

Two innings later came the splashes of beer in the right-field stands, the liquids arcing over the fans grateful to receive yet another baseball into the place where popups become homers. Hideki Matsui had taken Martinez out of the park on a low curveball for a solo homer and a 2-1 lead.

The Yankees would score once more. The Phillies would not, contained by Burnett, and then by two innings from Mariano Rivera.

“It’s a terrible cliché, but it was a must-win,’’ Teixeira said. “You don’t want to go 0-2 into Philadelphia. With my time at the Braves I know how tough they are at home, especially in the World Series. Their fans are going to be all over us.

“But if we went in there 0-2, it would have been a tough road for us.’’

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.