PHILADELPHIA — The regular-season Brad Lidge reared his ugly head at the worst possible time for the Phillies.
The embattled closer had appeared to turn around his awful year in the playoffs — until the ninth inning last night, when another Lidge meltdown led to a 7-4 loss to the Yankees in Game 4 of the World Series that put the Phillies on the brink of elimination.
Lidge, who had been one of the heroes of the Phillies’ run to the World Series championship last season, is poised to go down as one of the goats this year with a disastrous first appearance.
Entering a 4-4 game after teammate Pedro Feliz had electrified the crowd with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth, Lidge allowed three runs on two hits and a hit batter to trash the Phillies’ hopes.
“It’s always tough,” Lidge said. “You always want to go out there and get results. Any time you don’t do well, it’s frustrating.”
The inning started promisingly, with Lidge retiring the first two batters while looking a lot like the pitcher who had not allowed a run while collecting three saves so far in the postseason.
But a terrific at-bat by Johnny Damon brought out the Lidge of the regular season, the one who was so bad — 0-8 with a 7.21 ERA and 11 blown saves — that manager Charlie Manuel briefly took away his closer role.
Damon eventually singled, then got the Yankees’ three-run rally started by stealing two bases on one pitch when Lidge left third base uncovered after a defensive shift to the right side.
“That’s not something you go over a lot, to be honest,” Lidge said of Damon’s two steals. “It’s kind of a weird play where no one ends up being there, and he’s faster than I am.”
Damon’s heady play appeared to unravel Lidge, who promptly drilled Mark Teixeira with a pitch before grooving a fastball to Alex Rodriguez that A-Rod slapped into left to score the go-ahead run.
It only got worse for Lidge as he followed the Rodriguez at-bat by giving up a two-run single to Jorge Posada that would give the Yankees more than enough cushion for Mariano Rivera. The Citizens Bank Park crowd that had been so electric just moments before Lidge’s appearance rained boos when it was finally, mercifully over.
“I felt good out there, but they did a good job of fighting, fouling off pitches and battling,” said Lidge, who hadn’t pitched since Oct. 21. “They kept themselves alive, and then capitalized on the pitches they were looking for.
“It’s disappointing. I just hope I get another chance to go out there and show what I can do.”