MLB: Yankees Move Ahead 3-1 In Series, Set Up All-Arkansas Game Five

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Getting hit by a pitch could have been the best thing that ever happened to Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees.

Still smarting after getting plunked, Rodriguez struck back with his bat. He took the swing of a lifetime, and suddenly the Yankees are a win away from the World Series crown.

Rodriguez lined a go-ahead, two-out double in the ninth inning off Brad Lidge and the Yankees took advantage of Johnny Damon's daring dash to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-4 on Sunday night for a 3-1 lead.

"There's no question - I've never had a bigger hit," Rodriguez said.

Only 27 outs from that elusive 27th title, the Yankees will try to close out the defending champions Monday night when A.J. Burnett (North Little Rock) faces October ace Cliff Lee (Benton). It's a matchup of two pitchers from the state of Arkansas.

Rodriguez applauded his own stroke of fortune, for good reason. The three-time AL MVP had waited his whole career for this chance, and put all his prominent postseason failures behind with a solid shot that echoed around Citizens Bank Park.

"He's the reason why we're sitting here and we're in Philadelphia right now," Damon said. "I felt like without him, who knows where our road may have stopped at."

Rodriguez got drilled by a pair of pitches in Game 3, including one that left a bruise on his thigh. Then he got nailed in the back by Joe Blanton's fastball in the first inning, prompting plate umpire Mike Everitt to warn both teams.

"The one time I got hit in yesterday's game, my first at-bat, kind of woke me up a little bit and just reminded me, 'Hey, this is the World Series, let's get it going a little bit,'" Rodriguez said.