by By Phil Anastasia; Inquirer Staff Writer , The Philadelphia Inquirer

With two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the score tied at 4-4, Johnny Damon singled to left field off Phillies reliever Brad Lidge. That was when Rivera rose to his feet.

Both developments spelled doom for the Phillies .

The Yankees rallied for three runs off Lidge, and Rivera closed the door with his record-setting 11th save in World Series play as New York took a 7-4 victory in Game 4.

"Those guys are the best," Rivera said of the Yankees' hitters. "They've been in that situations many times before and have come through many times, like they did tonight."

Rivera worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 39th save in postseason play, another major-league record. He entered the game with a career postseason ERA of 0.77, still another record.

But the Yankees nearly didn't get a chance to use their closer. With CC Sabathia pitching on three days' rest, Yankees manager Joe Girardi knew he would need his bullpen.

He knew he had Rivera at the back end. He hoped he could get from Sabathia to Rivera without trouble. Not quite.

Lefthander Damaso Marte got one big out, but righthander Joba Chamberlain allowed one big run as the Phillies tied the score at 4-4 on Pedro Feliz's dramatic solo home run in the eighth inning.

"Everybody in the dugout was telling him that we were going to pick him up," Yankees catcher Jorge Posada said of Chamberlain.

Posada said he thought Chamberlain had "rushed" the 3-2 pitch to Feliz.

"He got too much of the plate," Posada said. "A little down and away would have been a better location."

Sabathia went 62/3 innings, leaving after Chase Utley pulled the Phillies within a run with a home run. Marte, a lefthander, came on and retired Ryan Howard on a fly ball to left field.

"Marte has done a tremendous job," Rivera said.

"We don't have a one-man show" in the bullpen, he added. "We believe we have guys who can do the job."

Rivera then handled the ninth inning, leaving the Yankees one win away from their 27th World Series title.

"There's no anxiety," Rivera said. "All we can do is wait until tomorrow."

Contact staff writer Phil Anastasia at 856-779-3223 or panastasia@phillynews.com.

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