Phillies' collective slump hastened fall

NEW YORK – The Philadelphia Phillies’ bid to become the first National League team in 33 years to win consecutive World Series titles fell two wins short against the New York Yankees with a 7-3 loss in Game 6 Wednesday.

“Our goal is to come back and play again, and hopefully we play the Yankees again,” manager Charlie Manuel said.

Chase Utley tied Reggie Jackson’s record for homers in a Series with five, and Cliff Lee earned two wins.

But the Phillies couldn’t overcome poor performances by three players who played crucial roles in helping them win the franchise’s second championship in 2008. Cole Hamels was Most Valuable Player of the World Series last year against Tampa Bay. Lidge got two saves versus the Rays and Ryan Howard had three homers and six RBIs.

They won’t have fond memories of this one.

The Phillies gave Hamels a 3-0 lead in the pivotal Game 3. But after tossing three scoreless innings, the temperamental lefty fell apart. He allowed five runs over 4 1-3 innings in an 8-5 loss that gave New York a 2-1 lead.

Lidge, who led the majors with 11 blown saves in the regular season, made one appearance against the Yankees. He entered with the score tied in the ninth inning in Game 4. After retiring the first two batters, Lidge gave up three runs in a 7-4 loss.

Howard, the MVP of the NL championship series against Los Angeles, set a record with 13 strikeouts in a World Series. Willie Wilson fanned 12 times for Kansas City against Philadelphia in 1980.

Howard hit a two-run homer Wednesday. But the All-Star first baseman finished with a .174 batting average (4 for 23), one homer and three RBIs.

“You don’t look at it as a failure. We had a great season. We just got beat by the better team,” Howard said.

The defending champs cruised to their third straight NL East title with 93 wins and breezed through the first two rounds of the playoffs, beating Colorado in four games in the division series and the Dodgers in five in the NLCS.

Still, the Phillies were 2 to 1 underdogs against the Yankees, who had 103 regular-season victories. The Vegas oddsmakers had it right all the way. No one was going to deny the best team that money can buy – New York’s payroll was $201 million on opening day – its 27th title.

Howard, Hamels and Lidge weren’t the only problems for the Phillies. A potent offense that led the league in runs went into a collective slump at the worst time. Jimmy Rollins (.217), Shane Victorino (.182), Pedro Feliz (.174) and Ben Francisco (.000) couldn’t produce at the plate.

Lee was masterful on the mound in Game 1 and helped the Phillies avoid elimination with a strong outing Monday night. Pedro Martinez was superb in a 3-1 loss in Game 2, but the wily 38-year-old right-hander failed to match that effort. (AP)