The Red Sox have declined a $6 million option on shortstop Alex Gonzalez, according to a source, but the club still may have interest in bringing the player back in 2010 on a lesser salary.

News of the Sox’ decision to forgo the option on Gonzalez comes just two days after the Milwaukee Brewers traded shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Carlos Gomez. A different baseball source indicated that the Sox had been having ongoing discussions with the Brewers about Hardy since just before the July 31 trading deadline, but that Milwaukee’s interest was primarily in either starter Clay Buchholz or reliever Daniel Bard, neither of whom the Sox were willing to sacrifice.

Gonzalez, 32, had a profound impact on the Red Sox’ defense this year (one error in 44 games) while batting a surprising .284 with five home runs.

With Gonzalez now eligible for free agency, the Sox do not appear to have an everyday shortstop on their roster. When the season ended, even general manager Theo Epstein all but acknowledged that Jed Lowrie’s injury history has cast doubt on Lowrie’s ability to handle the position on a daily basis.

Before you ask the obvious question, here’s the answer: yes, the Red Sox were in on discussions for shortstop J.J. Hardy, who was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Minnesota Twins earlier today.

According to a baseball source, the Sox had been engaging with the Brewers in on-and-off discussions involving Hardy since the trading deadline, roughly two weeks before Milwaukee sent the struggling shortstop to the minor leagues. Talks continued up until recently, when the Brewers agreed to send Hardy to the Twins for outfielder Carlos Gomez.

According to the same source, Milwaukee wanted either starter Clay Buchholz or reliever Daniel Bard for Hardy. The Sox were not willing to offer either pitcher. Milwaukee was not interested in righthander Michael Bowden, whom the Sox would have been willing to part with, and the Sox did not have a center field prospect who could match Gomez’s skill set.

Hardy, 27, batted just .227 with 11 home runs, 47 RBIs, and a .659 OPS for Milwaukee last season but batted a combined .280 while averaging 25 home runs and 77 RBI over the previous two seasons. Regarded as a good defensive player, he earned $4.65 million this year and is eligible for salary arbitration. Hardy is not eligible for free agency until after the 2011 campaign.

Hardy has been rumored to be on the trade market for some time because the Brewers intend for highly-regarded prospect Alcides Escobar to take over next season.

The Sox’ interest in Hardy certainly suggests that the club is not committed to Alex Gonzalez, on whom the Sox hold a $6 million option for next season. The Sox have until later this month to determine whether they will exercise that option. The club also could try to re-sign Gonzalez for a lesser amount.

Remember when the Sox traded for Coco Crisp before the 2006 season and it looked like a great idea?

Three mediocre seasons led to his being dealt to the Royals for Ramon Ramirez and today Kansas City declined Crisp's $8 million option, choosing to pay a $500,000 buy-out instead.

Crisp was at a grim .228/.336/.378 this season and played in only 49 games.

The money is all relative, but it's going to be a long, cold winter for some players. The non-tender market is likely to be bigger than ever before and many "name" free agents will find they have to settle for one-year deals.

The star players will get theirs. But a large-market team willing to spend, say, $500,000 extra on a B-List player or two will be able to construct a very solid bench and bullpen with all the choices that will be out there.

The Red Sox, for instance, are willing to pay the arbitration cost on Jeremy Hermida to see whether he can fulfill his potential. Those are the sort of moves the Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers and other monied teams can make.

Bad economic times are actually good for such teams in terms of player acquisition because the small-market teams become less active in the market.

Had the Florida Marlins not traded Jeremy Hermida, there's a decent chance he would have been non-tendered next month. After a disappointing 2009 season, the Marlins were not interested in giving Hermida a raise from the $2.25 million he made.

Once he reached free agency, Hermida would have been an attractive player if only because he's still young, has a smooth lefty swing and decent pop. Instead the Red Sox acquired him for the low, low cost of LHPs Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez.

Hermida welcomed the trade. The expectations on a first-round pick are high with any team but especially with teams like Florida, who can't afford to make mistakes. Hermida is the classic "can't miss" prospect who has missed so far and everybody had become tired of waiting.

"The change of scenery will be good for me," he said. "Boston has a lot of older guys who can teach me about the game and we can talk hitting. I know Mike Lowell pretty well and I played with Josh (Beckett) a little. This is a great thing for me."

Hermida has had health issues and ended the season out of action for four weeks with an oblique strain. Like many young players (he's 26 in January), he needs to learn his body and how best to prepare it.

Hermida spoke to Theo Epstein and Terry Francona today and said he's eager to start swinging a bat again to get ready for spring training.

"I feel rejuvenated," he said. "I had a feeling I'd be traded and going to Boston is better than I could have expected."

This is not a major deal, as Epstein said. But it was around this time last season that the Yankees obtained Nick Swisher when his value was lowest and that deal worked out. Sometimes the little deals become big ones.

The Red Sox have acquired 25-year-old OF Jeremy Hermida from the Marlins for LHPs Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez.

Hermida had a .259/.348/.392 season for the Marlins. He has lefty power and seems likely to be the fourth outfielder. The former first-round pick is arbitration eligible after signing a one-year, $2.25 million deal last January.

At first glance, this is a deal that brings upside at low cost for Boston.

UPDATE, 6:35 p.m.: Here is Marlins GM Larry Beinfest on Hermida:

"He had a lot of opportunity here. We wish him well. ... I think that goes with a lot of first-round picks. Our expectations were high for Jeremy. He had his moments where he was highly productive, like the second half of ’07. But, given his talent level, I think the expectation was for more. Hopefully he’ll realize it (potential) elsewhere.”

Theo Epstein will speak to reporters within the hour. This post will be updated then.

UPDATE, 7:23 p.m.: This quick analysis from Tony Mazz:

The Red Sox view Hermida as a player worth gambling on based on his career path and development to this point. The acquisition cost was extremely low, though Hermida earned $2.25 million in 2009 and is eligible for salary arbitration while he is not a particularly good compliment to the Red Sox as a bench player, the club is essentially rolling the dice that Hermida can turn into a productive everyday player somewhere down the road.

UPDATE, 7:25 p.m.: It's just paperwork, but Jason Bay, Billy Wagner and Rocco Baldelli all officially filed for free agency.

UPDATE, 8:27 p.m.: Some comments from Theo Epstein:

“This was not a blockbuster. This was a value trade, a chance to get a guy with unfulfilled potential at a reasonable cost.

"The last two years, there were high expectations that didn’t come together for him. His performance certainly hasn’t been as good the last two years as it was in 2007. I can tell you that’s the reason we were able to acquire him today. Had he maintained that performance or had linear progression from 2007 to today, there’s no way we would have been trading for him, let alone in this kind of a deal.

"Hermida is a player who hasn’t fulfilled his potential yet. We acquired him today for a reasonable cost to see if he might be able to fulfill that potential with us. He’s somebody who has positive indicators that future performance might be better than his past performance. His minor-league track record, his age, his draft pedigree, our scouting reports over the year indicate there’s a chance that he can turn into the player he was once thought to be.

"Certainly this is a good time to acquire him when his value is a little bit low and to see if with a change of scenery he will be able to fulfill his potential.

"He is somebody who had and we feel may still have considerable promise. This is a player who was highly sought after as an amateur. We liked him in the draft.

"He’s about to move into his prime years. Sometimes talented young players who struggle at the big-league level put it all together and sometimes they don’t. We had a chance to acquire one for what we deemed to be a very reasonable cost."

Back in a bit with some comments from Hermida, who just said he was "thrilled" with the trade.

The Yankees' victory over the Phillies pretty much reduced the debate over the decade's best team to two -- the Yankees and the Red Sox. A Phillies' victory might have put them in the conversation. Bob Ryan and Christopher L. Gasper debate the issue in the latest edition of Globe 10.0.

Watch that, chew on the stats here and then cast your vote for the best team from 2000-2009.

Red Sox: 2 World Series titles, 2 league titles, 1 division title, 920 wins, .568 winning percentage

Yankees: 2 World Series titles, 4 league titles, 8 division titles, 965 wins, .597 winning percentage.

The day after the New York Yankees won their 27th championship -- with the icing being that Pedro Martinez was the losing pitcher -- you had to figure Curt Schilling would have an opinion on the matter.

And just as he did when he personally "shut up 55,000 New Yorkers" five years ago, the former Red Sox ace delivered, sharing his opinion on a variety of baseball matters while speaking with the hosts of WEEI's "Dennis and Callahan" show this morning.

Schilling, who revealed that he did consider pitching this season, was particularly candid when it came to the performance of Martinez, his former teammate who allowed four runs in four innings in the Phillies' 7-3 loss in Game 6.

"He was going to have issues," Schilling said when asked if he knew before the game that Martinez would struggle facing the deep Yankees lineup for the second time in the World Series. It's such as tough time for a guy who has become more of a contact pitcher to keep things down. Obviously, he didn't have anything last night. And it was a struggle."

Schilling, who didn't always get along with Martinez during their one season as teammates (2004), expounded on the source of whatever animosity they may have had for each other.

"I've played with a couple of guys in my life that were first-ballot Hall of Famers, Pedro being one of them," Schilling said. "And he wasn't a player that etched that Hall of Fame monument when I played with him. But as a player, you see that funny-ha-ha stuff and the from-the-heart stuff in a different light [because] you're living with these guys every day. And there are things that happen behind the scenes that aren't fun and cool. And you watch people that you care about and people that you know respect the game get disrespected.

"You guys remember, when Pedro was here, Pedro played by different rules," Schilling added. "And Pedro, to a degree, earned the right to play by different rules. But players that play by different rules and take advantage of those, that's probably the only reason I ever had issues with Pedro. And it was not a big deal, I know people are going to make it a bigger deal than I'm making it. But the amount of respect and admiration and the loyalty and friendship I have with [Terry Francona] . . . I saw some things, from Opening Day leaving the ballpark in Tito's first game here. There’s just little, crappy dumb stuff. But you know what, you never questioned the guy's heart and commitment and the fact that he was going to leave it on the field every fifth day. As a teammate, that's all I ever asked from anybody."

Schilling said he completely understands why Martinez chose to sign with the Phillies during the season and continue a career in which there isn't much left to accomplish.

"I was asked that question a lot of times [when I retired]," Schilling said. "It's a no-brainer for me. But I can totally understand how it can be a no-brainer in the other direction. 'OK, what do you want to do next year?' 'Well, let’s see, I can go play professional baseball, and travel around the world on charter flights, and get paid 5 or 6 million a year to play in big league stadiums, or I can go sit under the mango tree. Having the choice, I made my choice and thank God I had the ability to make the choice I wanted to make. He does, too. If he wants to play, so what?

". . . He went to the best team in the worst league. . . . If he could do that again next year, why wouldn’t he do that again?"

Schilling said he felt like he could have made a successful return to the mound this season much in the manner Martinez did, but found his heart wasn't in it anymore.

"The one scenario I possibly had contemplated was coming back for the second half of this year and pitching," he said. "What I realized early in the year was I could pitch again and I could be better than I was in '07. I had to sit down and kind of go through the mental checklist at home. And there were no checks in the 'for' box. I couldn't do it. I didn't want to. I was laughing because I was sitting around thinking about, 'Jeez, I don’t want to go out in the middle of the season and work to get a job for a team if no one needs pitching,' and it turned out in the middle of the season every team I ever played for needed pitching. Once Pedro signed in Philadelphia, I thought, 'That’s cool.' It played out perfectly. It was good to see him do that."

Knowing his audience, Schilling couldn't resist taking a few jabs at the Yankees.

"Oh, let's all cheer up because A-Rod's come full circle now. He's got his ring, he's complete, blah, blah, blah, whatever. Listen, they’re used to it, and they have to accept the fact that no one outside New York is even remotely happy today. OK, the Yankees won. Move on. When does spring training start? When do we sign free agents?

". . . I love to see Mariano Rivera, I'm a fan. And Eric Hinske as well. So, it's a personal thing for me. I think for players maybe. I don’t know that I'm really friends with anybody in my life that wants any team in New York to ever win anything."

Baseball sometimes has a language all its own. If something goes wrong, you'll often hear a player say, "All you can do is wear it."

Such is the case for Red Sox fans now that the Yankees have won their 27th championship. You can complain all you want, but all you can do in the end is wear it.

It's not exactly a feel-good story anyway. The Yankees have an obscene payroll and built a stadium that caters mainly to the wealthy. A team that spent nearly half a billion in free agents last winter is not exactly the little train that could.

The Red Sox and then the Rays ruled the AL East and now the Yankees are back on top. I agree with Tony Mazz: A Yankees championship might serve as a little kick in the pants to the Red Sox.

Now the Hot Stove season is officially here. The General Manager Meetings, believe it or not, start Monday in Chicago. Extra Bases will be there and we'll be live-blogging the whispers.

The Yankees are on top of the mountain. Now 29 other teams will start plotting how to knock them off.

UPDATE, 11;26 a.m.: It's sad that some people can't enjoy a sports without resorting to insults. But typical. If you feel that strongly about it, send an e-mail rather than clutter up this blog.

But be advised that even Brian Cashman said last night the Yankees are a product of their payroll and then defended it, saying they play by the rules. Which is entirely true.

The Yankees have several admirable players. But they rose from third place because they simply outspent everybody else on Burnett, Sabathia and Teixeira. It's not complicated.

Again, they had every right to do that. But their payroll was $63 million than the next largest one -- $79 million more than anybody else in the AL. The difference was they spent wisely this time after years of bad investments.

Good for the Steinbrenners for being so willing to spend and good for Cashman for spending it on the right players. But don't pretend the money doesn't matter.

We are underway on a clear, cold night in the Bronx. Nobody asked, but I can see this being a high-scoring game and that would favor the Yankees being that they are home.

It will be interesting to see how Pedro Martinez fares against the Yankees a second time after pitching pretty well in Game 2.

Hope you enjoy the game.

FIRST INNING: Three up and three down for each of the Old Timer starters. The matchup between 37-year-old Andy Pettitte and 38-year-old Pedro Martinez is the oldest in the World Series since Game 1 of the 2004 World Series when Tim Wakefield faced Woody Williams of the Cardinals. Both were 38 at that time.

Pettitte is pretty much a get it and throw it sort of pitcher. But as Pedro showed in the first inning, he'll use his rhythm to try and control the at-bat and throw the hitters off. He'll either slow down or quick pitch depending on the batter. Watching how he compensates for his lost velocity is one of the most interesting aspects of this game.

SECOND INNING: Pedro has yet to hit 90 mph and he's paying for it as Hideki Matsui drilled a two-run homer to right field. He's throwing a lot of junkyard change-ups and seems afraid to challenge hitters. Yankees lead 2-0.

THIRD INNING: Pettitte allowed allowed a run in the top of the inning but Pedro got in trouble again in the bottom. Jeter singled, Damon walked and Teixeira was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After A-Rod struck out looking, Matsui cracked a two-run single to center.

Meanwhile, Damon pulled a calf muscle scoring and has been replaced in left field by Jerry Hairston Jr.

FOURTH INNING: Pettitte issued two-walks to Werth and Ibanez but came back to get Felix on a grounder to third. Pedro then had his second 1-2-3 inning, taking care of the bottom of the Yankees order.

With Melky Cabrera out and now Damon injured, the Yankees need a win tonight or risk going into Game 7 with a makeshift outfield of Hairston, Gardner and Swisher.

The story of this game now is which starter can get an inning or two deeper and his bullpen out of the game. If Mariano Rivera is going to go two innings — and every indication is that will be the case — the Yankees have nine outs to figure out.

FIFTH INNING: Pettitte got through the inning. And now the Yankees have blown it open. Teixeira had an RBI single and Matsui — the MVP? — a two-run double. Yankees now lead 7-1.

SIXTH INNING: Pettitte is done, having allowed three runs over 5.2 innings. Ryan Howard finally got on track witha two-run homer. Now Joba Chamberlain is in trying to get the ball to Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning as the Yankees lead 7-3.

SEVENTH INNING: Chamberlain and Damaso Marte survived the seventh inning. Now you can expect Girardi to give the ball and the lead to his closer. It would be a surprise if he trusts anybody else at this point. Rivera has had the last two days off.

EIGHTH INNING: Marte stayed in the game to get Howard. Now Rivera is responsible for the final five outs and has a four-run lead to play with. Nothing is a sure thing, but that is pretty close.

NINTH INNING: The Yankees are three outs away from the championship. Rivera will face pinch hitter Matt Stairs, Carlos Ruiz and Jimmy Rollins, he of the very inaccurate prediction.

PHILLIES
Rollins SS
Victorino CF
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Werth RF
Ibanez DH
Felix 3B
Francisco LF
Ruiz C

Pitching: Pedro Martinez.

YANKEES
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Gardner CF

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte.

What to watch for:

• Tired starters: Andy Pettitte is pitching on three days' rest for the first time since 2006. He had a start skipped in September because of a sore shoulder and has pitched on at least one extra day of rest in all but one start since. Pedro Martinez has pitched on an average of 12.3 days rest in his last three starts.

It would be surprise if either of this guys gets through the sixth inning.

• Battered bullpens: The Yankees can trust only Mariano Rivera and maybe Damaso Marte against a lefty. The Phillies can trust ... well ... nobody. The Yankees need to find a way to their closer. The Phillies may need to score 10 runs.

• The struggling stars: Ryan Howard, the MVP of the NLCS, is 3 for 19 in the Series with one RBI and has struck out 12 times. Mark Teixeira, who led the American League with RBI this season, is 2 for 19 with two RBI. One of them, presumably, will make an appearance in this series sometime soon.

• Chasing down Chase: Joe Girardi's vaunted blue binder of scouting reports has it all wrong on Chase Utley, who is 6 of 18 with five homers and eight RBI. The Yankees had a day to try and figure him out.

• Home-field advantage: The Yankees are a murderous 37-9 at home (including the postseason) since the All-Star break.

We interrupt this World Series coverage — don't worry, it'll end soon enough — for some actual Red Sox news.

Lefty Dustin Richardson, who pitched three games in the majors, was named to the all-star game in the Arizona Fall League. It will be played on Saturday. He has had mixed results in seven games — 7.2 9 5 5 5 11 — but has thrown the ball well according to several scouts.

The 6-foot-6 lefty, who spent the 2009 season with Portland for the most part, was a draft pick in 2006 out of Texas Tech.

Casey Kelly is hitting .250 in Arizona, splitting time at shortstop with fellow Boston prospect Jose Iglesias.

Pedro Martinez is in the interview room now at Yankee Stadium. His comments are too good not to share with you in (nearly) real time:

On Red Sox fans: "I know they don't like the Yankees to win, not even in Nintendo games."

He also said that he still considers himself a Bostonian and that he treasures his relationship with Red Sox fans. Earlier, he joked with reporters that he "wants his props" now and not when he dies.

Pedro faces Andy Pettitte tomorrow. Their first matchup was in 1998. Now they'll take the mound in Game 6 of the World Series. It's a very intriguing matchup.

UPDATE, 5:55 p.m.: More Pedro:

On Red Sox fans: "I'm pretty sure that every Boston fan out there can feel proud that I'm going to try and beat the Yankees and I'm going to give just the same effort I always did for them. They're special fans and they will always have my respect."

On Johnny Damon: "He's a tough out and he's going to give you a battle and he's not going to get unraveled for anything. He's always going to make it fun. J.D. is just a special human being and special player. I'm glad he's doing well, too. That's one of the guys I will always root for."

On his legacy: "I'm pretty sure my name will be mentioned. I don't know in which way. But maybe after I retire, because normally when you die, people tend to actually give you props about the good things. But that's after you die. So I'm hoping to get it before I die. I don't want to die and hear everybody say, 'Oh, there goes one of the best players ever.' If you're going to give me props, just give them to me right now."

A postseason filled with questionable calls has thrust the debate over the use of replay in baseball to the forefront. The latest Globe 10.0 video featured Bob Ryan and Chad Finn discussing the issue. Cast your vote.

The World Series will continue even deeper into November.

The Phillies extended the season by beating the Yankees 8-6. Chase Utley homered twice and drove in four runs for the Phillies, who got just enough from Cliff Lee and their battered bullpen to survive.

The A-Rod Redemption Tour continued with two doubles and three more RBI. Has a franchise record 18 RBI in this postseason. The MLB record of 19 is shared by Sandy Alomar Jr. (Cleveland 1997), Scott Spiezio (Anahei, 2002) and David Ortiz (2004).

The scene shifts to New York tomorrow. The Yankees will work out at Yankee Stadium while the Phillies will take the day off. Game 6 will be Wednesday night with Pedro Martinez facing Andy Pettitte, although Girardi claims that decision has not yet been finalized.

As many people expected, this World Series was not going to be a quick one.

At the moment, it looks like there will be a Game 6 in the World Series as the Phillies lead the Yankees 6-2 going into the bottom of the fifth inning.

Cliff Lee has allowed one hit since the first inning. He hasn't been sharp but he has been sharp enough. A.J. Burnett lasted only four batters into the third inning. He was charged with all six runs.

Now, unless the Yankees have Chad Gaudin up their sleeves, they'll start Andy Pettitte on short rest on Wednesday. It will be the first time he has done that since 2006.

The lack of development by Joba Chamberlain is coming back to haunt the Yankees now as they try and win the Series with three starters. Chamberlain was 1-4 with a 7.75 ERA over his final 10 starts, giving up 56 hits and walked 19 over 40 2/3 innings. That got him shipped back to the bullpen.

---------

Meanwhile, the Celtics are in the house. Rajon Rondo, Eddie House, Philly native Rasheed Wallace and Lester Hudson are in a suite catching the game. Rondo had the hook-up via Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins. Both are sponsored by Red Bull.

Speaking of which, I'll be stopping on the Jersey Turnpike for a Red Bull when I drive back to New York tonight for tomorrow's workout. They should sponsor sportswriters.

The Yankees scored a run in the first inning, getting more good swings off Cliff Lee than they had in all of Game 1. Alex Rodriguez had an RBI double, giving him the franchise record for runs batted in during a single postseason with 16. He had been tied with Scott Brosius and Bernie Williams.

But A.J. Burnett, who is prone to such things, gave up three runs before he got an out in the bottom of the inning.

Jimmy Rollins: Single
Shane Victorino: Hit by pitch
Chase Utley: Home run to right field

Burnett is pitching on three days' rest. He was 4-0 with a 2.33 ERA on the four occasions he pitched on short rest previously in his career. It's 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning.

YANKEES
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Gardner CF
Molina C
Burnett RHP

PHILLIES
Rollins SS
Victorino CF
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Werth RF
Ibanez LF
Feliz 3B
Ruiz C
Lee LHP

A few notes: The Yankees were allowed by MLB to replace Melky Cabrera (left hamstring) on the roster with IF Ramiro Pena ... The Yankees did not officially announce a Game 6 starter, but it will be Andy Pettitte if the Phillies extend the series back to New York ...

PHILADELPHIA -- The Red Sox may have already lost assistant general manager Jed Hoyer to the Padres and bench coach Brad Mills to the Astros, but they won't be losing director of player development Mike Hazen.

According to a baseball source, Hazen will remain with the Red Sox. His duties won't change, though he will be granted some more autonomy based on the changing role of assistant general manager Ben Cherington. With the departure of Hoyer, Cherington will move from overseeing amateur scouting and drafting and player development to focus more on the major league club.

Hazen has overseen a minor league system that has ranked among baseball's best during the Theo Epstein regime.

Yes, Johnny Damon was a traitor to Red Sox Nation. To some, he'll always be a no-good rat. But, admit it, that was a pretty slick move he made to win the game for the Yankees tonight.

In case you're boycotting the World Series, here's a little recap:

Damon came to the plate with two out and nobody on with the score tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning. He saw nine pitches from Brad Lidge, softly lining the last one into left field for a single that kept the inning alive.

"He fouled off some pretty good sliders," Lidge said. "It was a good at-bat."

With Mark Teixeira up, the Phillies shifted their defense, moving shortstop Jimmy Rollins to the right of second base and playing third baseman Pedro Feliz as a shortstop. Damon took off on the first pitch.

The throw from catcher Carlos Ruiz bounced and Damon had the bag. But, to the shock of everybody watching, he popped up and kept going to third base.

Felix tried to chase him down to no avail as the Phillies yelled in vain for Lidge or catcher Carlos Ruiz to cover third base.

"Evidently there was some miscommunication there," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who pretty much was furious with the world after the game given the look in his eyes as he walked through the clubhouse.

Damon explained his thinking.

"What I had to see before I could start running to third base was how Pedro caught the ball," he said, noting that the throw pulled Feliz off he bag just enough. "I'm just glad that when I started running, I still had some of my young legs behind me."

Damon also was thinking that if he were on third base, it would take away Lidge's ability to throw his best pitch — a slider in the dirt — as that would risk a wild pitch.

"In that situation I was trying to be aggressive and trying to get in scoring position," Damon said. "It just worked out that way where there was a throw, the third baseman covered and the pitcher did not. So I kind of had to see all that stuff develop."

Lidge hit Mark Teixeira with the next pitch, setting up an out at first or second. But, as Damon hoped, Lidge threw fastballs to Alex Rodriguez and he lined the second one into left field for an RBI single. Rattled after the Damon Dash, Lidge then served up a two-run single by Jorge Posada.

What adds to the play is that Damon had only 12 steals all season, his fewest in a full season, and one in the postseason. He hit second in the order in 127 of the 133 games he started this season. With Teixeira and Rodriguez usually behind him, stolen bases were not a priority.

"That's instinct," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "You'd better be sure, because you've got Tex and A-Rod up behind and you'd better be sure. I thought it was a great instinctual play."

Third base coach Rob Thomson has talked all season about the idea of taking extra bases against the shift and at one point, Derek Jeter considered trying to steal home as he was able to get far down the line without the third baseman covering. But Damon was the first to take advantage.

"It's a great play," Thomson said on his way out of Citizens Bank Park. "Really heads-up. It's not automatic he would have scored from second, either. Their outfielders all have pretty good arms."

Damon's daring gave the Yankees a three games to one lead in the Series. Nothing is impossible (see Damon and the Red Sox in 2004), but the Phillies are in serious trouble now. Cocky and confident after the NLCS and Game 1 of the Series, the Phillies are facing long odds now.

But all is not hunky and dory for the Yankees. Center fielder Melky Cabrera appears to have been felled by a strained hamstring. The only reliable set-up man in the postseason is the usually unreliable Damaso Marte. And Mariano Rivera had an ice bag strapped to his side after the game.

The Yankees are battered, a bit bruised and they're trying to win the title with only three starters. But thanks to Damon, they're in position to do so

Deep down, I think most Red Sox fans still like Johnny, if only just a little. If nothing else, you have to admire his hustle and how hard he plays. That has been the case regardless of what uniform he wears.

It's 4-4 here at Citizens Bank Park as solo homers by Chase Utley (seventh inning) and Pedro Felix (eighth inning) have tied the score.

Joe Girardi handed a 4-3 lead to Joba Chamberlain in the eighth inning and he struck out Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez before Felix had his third hit of the night, driving a 3-2 pitch deep into the stands in left field for his first RBI of the Series.

Brad Lidge on for the Phillies. Girardi is likely to save Mariano Rivera for a save situation, which leaves him Phil Hughes, Phil Coke or David Robertson.