Rodriguez' ninth-inning double for Yankees puts Phillies on brink of elimination

IN THE end, the story lies in the silence, the same silence that follows any big pitch, a muted cacophony of collective hesitation, only this time far outlasting the crack of bat on ball, lasting not just the path from the mound to plate, but long into the night, through the final four outs of a pivotal Game 4, and the long walk back to a defeated clubhouse, and the homeward journeys of the red taillights disappearing down Packer Avenue to Broad Street and the interstates beyond.

It is the silence of defeat, but also of realization, that after 175 games played with no end in sight, the next one could be the last.

It arrived in a hurry last night, a roaring crowd snapped to a hush as Brad Lidge delivered an 0-1 fastball to Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning. It never left, as Rodriguez laced a double to leftfield that gave the Yankees a one-run lead and jump-started a wild two-out rally that left the Phillies with a 7-4 loss and a 3-1 deficit in this best-of-seven World Series.

It was defeat in the cruelest of fashions, snatched from the jaws of victory, or at least a fighting chance at one, sealed by the Yankees' three-run rally off Lidge with two outs in the ninth inning of an eminently winnable game that could have tied the World Series at two games apiece.

Now, the Phillies find themselves in a position entirely foreign to the roster's current incarnation: Trailing three games-to-one, facing elimination, having to win three straight games - including two on the road - to preserve their dreams of a historic repeat.

"It's like the NCAA Tournament," reliever Chad Durbin said. "Win or go home. And I think we're all very aware of that."

They find themselves in this position thanks to a wild confluence of circumstances. It started with a game-tying solo home run by Pedro Feliz with two outs in the eighth inning, continued with Lidge quickly retiring the first two batters he faced in the ninth, then erupted with four straight batters reaching base.

For the previous 7 2/3 innings, they had tried doggedly to make up the ground they repeatedly ceded, watching in frustration as their rally attempts faltered.

Yankees ace CC Sabathia allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings, but looked so beatable that the Phillies had to be disappointed when Yankees manager Joe Girardi removed him from the game after allowing a solo home run to Chase Utley with two outs in the seventh that pulled the Phillies within one.